


Age of Intolerance

by sturms_sun_shattered



Series: Rito Chronicles [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Accidental Child Acquisition, Action/Adventure, Aging, Character Study, Dark, Family, Fantastic Racism, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hopeful Ending, Illiteracy, Illnesses, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character Death(s), Orphaned Kass, Politics, Rated For Violence, Rated for heavy themes, Somewhat darker than the source text, Stable Association, Worldbuilding, harsh justice, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:48:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 104,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22272121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sturms_sun_shattered/pseuds/sturms_sun_shattered
Summary: Half a century has passed since the Calamity.  Hyrule is rife with famine, disease, and suspicion.  Civilizations are destroyed, populations decimated.  Hope remains in some corners of the world and rebuilding has commenced.  Every choice in this world still hinges on the legacy of that great disaster.A moment of horrific tragedy in Kass's young life, followed by the compassion of a stranger, sets Kass on the path to his destiny.  Along the way he grapples with his identity, searches for a homeland, and tries to deal with the trauma of his past.
Relationships: Kass & Kass's Teacher, Kass & Rito, Kass & Sheikah
Series: Rito Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757296
Comments: 145
Kudos: 77





	1. Burning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: warning for epidemic and related violence in the first chapter and ongoing bigotry arising from said issues in the first chapter.
> 
> This wasn't something that I thought of when I initially posted, but for anyone getting into this now, it might be too real. I didn't set out to do that, just to make a heavy read.
> 
> If you have questions/concerns about triggers feel free to send me an ask on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sturms-sun-shattered).

Kass’s parents had warned him to be wary of the Hylians they lived among. He was too young to understand that they lived as refugees among a people who were not their own at the grace of their leader. He was too young to understand that the last of their tropical Rito tribe was tolerated by the villagers at the behest of a leader who believed in unity of the peoples of Hyrule. She had been born before the Great Calamity, when ideas of unity were where people invested their hope and though she preached love for all who shared their world, her son was not so kind. 

Kass knew some of the Rito who lived along the edge of the fishing village had fallen ill. His parents whispered in worried tones that their illness had spread to the Hylians—only the illness had killed some of them. Kass resented that he was forced to stay inside, away from both the Rito and Hylian children with whom he played on the sandy beaches. Though, perhaps it was better anyway; Mari and Markas had told Kass and the other Rito children that their parents said that the Rito were dirty and would make them sick. Kass had disputed the fact as they scrambled along the beach—he had cleaned his feathers that morning—but he had cried about it in his hammock that night.

His parents couldn’t explain why they had been driven from their homes in Lurelin Village when the good woman who had led the village died and her son took her place. The new leader had stoked the fears of the villagers into blame and hatred for the few Rito who lived there. When the villagers set their homes aflame and threw rocks at them, the Rito fled with their children and their ill and followed the road north then west. 

With few supplies and moving slowly, the Rito made camp for the night. Kass asked his mother why they had to spend the night on hard stone.

“Sweet chick,” she said, “we need to find a new place to live.”

“But where? They burned our stuff,” the memory of their home on fire made Kass want to cry.

“Perhaps with other Rito,” she said.

The thought of meeting more Rito excited Kass and—though he was full of questions about where they might be and why they had never seen any but the twenty or so in their village—he listened to his mother and curled up beside her to sleep.

When the Hylians attacked their camp that night, there was no one left for Kass to ask why their old neighbours had reacted with such violence. Kass lay for a night pinned under his mother’s body, too fearful to weep.

At dawn, the sound of horse’s hooves cut through the fog of Kass’s horror and he struggled to free himself, but he was not strong enough to shift his mother. He shrieked in despair, waiting for the Hylians to return and fracture his tiny body and make it lie still. He heard no footsteps as the tall, lean figure approached. He squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the blows to fall. To his surprise, this stranger spoke gently and freed him from where he was trapped.

“Little one,” came the soft voice of an old man.

Kass tried to run, to fly, but he was weak and shaking. He sucked in full breaths of air that he didn’t realize he had missed. The white-haired man gently lifted him in his arms and Kass wept and struggled weakly.

“I won’t harm you,” he said, striding back to his horse with the lengthy strides of a much younger man.

“My mother...my father...” Kass managed.

“I’m sorry, we must leave here. When villages live in fear their enemies are suddenly numerous,” he said, mounting his steed and holding Kass against his chest with one arm.

Kass could not remember the ride or the rain or how the inn keeper had to be persuaded with extra rupees to give the little Rito a bed for the night. Years later he only remembered how weak and ill he felt for days on the horse as he and the man who had saved him rode through swamps and forests and plains to the cooler, drier breezes of Kakariko Village.

oOo

In Kakariko village, Kass and the Sheikah man who had saved him—whom he learned was called Olin—were quarantined in Olin’s small wooden home until Kass was well. Kass’s throat remained terribly sore and he was unable to speak. Olin had strung a hammock for him in the corner of the divided room. He brought him hot herbal tea with courser bee honey, but Kass had not said a word since the day he was found. Olin spent long days writing and Kass watched him as he lay listlessly in his hammock, swaying slightly with the motion of the cottage when Olin moved about.

“Little one,” Olin addressed him one day when Kass had been well enough to manage a thin broth.

Kass looked up from his bowl to his—well, he wasn’t sure what to call him—friend he supposed, though that seemed terribly informal.

“You have been well for a week, does your throat still pain you?”

Kass nodded, and Olin looked slightly sad—though Kass thought Olin always looked slightly sad. His voice sounded old, but Olin’s face only wrinkled around his eyes when his expression changed. He walked with long confident strides and sat in his seat with a straight back. His muscles were tight and wiry beneath his tunic. The only hint of real age his body bore were his hands, which were bony and freckled with sunspots.

“I wish you would share your name, so I could properly address you,” Olin said, dipping a wooden spoon into his own soup.

Kass suddenly worried that this was some sort of trap—if he were really well, perhaps Olin would cast him out. Then where would he be? He was the only Rito in his tribe to have survived—everyone else he knew in the world despised him. The thoughts made his vision blur and Kass slid from his stool, spilling his soup across the table and floor. His throat ached as he wept silently, rocking himself in some attempt at comfort, his tiny wings wrapped around his body.

“You’re safe here,” Olin said, crouching in front of Kass and wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

Kass pulled the blanket around himself tightly, shaking his head and choking on his silent sobs—how could he be safe without his mother and father? Olin sat patiently with him on the floor, ignoring the soup which dripped from the table.

oOo

Less than week after the soup incident, Kass had still not spoken a word. Certainly, his throat no longer burned as it had when he had been so ill he could barely lift a wing—yet it still ached all of the time. The thought to making a sound was akin to that of tearing out his own feathers. Olin summoned him to the table where he wrote, his fingers stained with ink.

“Do you know how to read and write?” asked Olin.

Kass shook his head. His mother had known a little and his father not at all. For anything which required reading or writing they visited one old Rito whom everyone referred to as ‘Nan’. Remembering Nan made his eyes well up just as they did when he thought of his parents, so he instead focused on the stylus which Olin pressed into his hand.

“Copy these letters and I will tell you the sounds they make,” said Olin, sitting next to Kass.

With little else to focus on, Kass practised his letters every day. Olin had not yet taken him outside, and Kass had no desire to leave the safety of the timber-framed sanctuary. After a few weeks, he handed Olin a slip of paper.

“Kaz?” asked Olin.

Kass took back the paper and scratched out his first attempt and returned his revisions to Olin.

“Kass?” said Olin.

Kass nodded.

“Kass is your name,” realized Olin, a small smile not quite taking the sadness from his features.

Kass kept nodding, a strange feeling of accomplishment momentarily overtaking the sorrow that had been weighing down his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This happened because I profoundly misunderstood where the Rito live early on in the game. I met Kass really fast and was wondering why there weren’t any parrot-like Rito in the Faron region. So this came to me and I wanted to write something dark but hopeful. This is meant to be a companion piece to Turns Our Hearts to Ice and Stone, if you’ve been following along, you may have already seen some hints there. Also, parrots tend to have a much longer lifespan than raptors, which is how I justify Kass being around 50 in BotW.


	2. Snowfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass struggles as his trauma continues to manifest in psychosomatic symptoms and episodes of terror, but his teacher has not yet given up on him.

Kass did not track how much time had passed since he had come to be in Kakariko Village. He spent much of it writing and trying to read, though he did not have much luck with the reading. Instead he transcribed poems he did not understand onto scraps of paper that Olin had trimmed from the pages he bound into a book. He had not yet ventured further into the village than the edge Olin’s garden. From there, he could see people in the steppes below tending their own gardens. To Kass, they looked so like the Hylians who had run his tribe out of the fishing village that he returned to his hammock to hide until his heart stopped pounding.

“Kass,” said Olin.

Kass—fearing the inside of his throat might tear and bleed if he made a sound—looked up as he always did in response to his teacher.

“I want you to come down to the shop with me,” he said.

Feeling this might be some sort of test, Kass nodded slowly.

“Many of the people here have not seen a Rito—at least not since The Calamity. They may stare, but it is curiosity, not malice,” Olin warned him.

Kass accepted the scarf which Olin handed him to kept the cool wind at bay. Kass took a deep breath and followed Olin out the door, through the herbs and vegetables in the patch of garden in front of his house, and down the path through the village.

Olin had been right, the villagers did look at him for just a little too long; children stared openly though their parents whispered at them that it was poor manners to do so. All the while, the adults sneaked furtive glances at him. Kass fixed his eyes straight ahead of him trying to ignore the stares he felt, following as closely to his teacher as he dared. 

When they arrived at the shop, Olin approached the young woman at the counter. Kass stood stupidly between the tables of produce, unsure of what he should be doing. At the market in Lurelin village, he and his mother would look at the fish and the fruit, so he stared intently at the goat butter, never touching anything as he had been taught, and trying hard not to remember his mother in public. He started when he felt a sticky hand on his wing. He quickly turned to see a small, white-haired girl with sparkling brown eyes smiling at him.

“You’re it,” she said.

Kass didn’t know what that meant and backed into a table in horror. A basket of purple innards rocked off the table and spilled to the floor. The squelching sound startled Kass, and he threw himself beneath the table, covering his head with his wings and curling into a ball. A terrible noise filled his ears—he didn’t realize that he was screeching and crying until he found Olin sitting beside him on the ground, the shop empty. He stopped and tried to catch his breath as soon as he realized what had happened and looked up to see Olin’s remorseful face.

“I’m sorry. I pushed you too soon,” said Olin.

Kass just wiped the tears from his face and Olin held out his arm. Kass let Olin lift him from under the table and carry him back to the house. His head on Olin’s shoulder, he was too exhausted to do more than wonder if he was too old to be carried—certainly his father would have said so. He couldn’t halt the tears that welled up when he thought of his father. Olin stroked his head and held him close before he laid him down in his hammock.

oOo

Olin reflected on the last few months as he dug root vegetables from his garden and transplanted new sprouts in their place. Kass had grown brave enough to walk to the end of the path in front of Olin’s house, but was still wary of the Sheikah villagers. Kass—who was still not speaking—had not told Olin exactly what had happened, though Olin had travelled the world through such terrible times that he had guessed that the Rito had been slaughtered by the Lurelin villagers. Indeed, they had driven him from their gates only hours before he had found Kass, imploring him to mind his own business when he sought shelter and asked about the tremendous smoke which he had seen from the distance.

Despite Kass’s silence during the day, Olin often heard him talking in his sleep—usually calling for his mother. Olin was reminded of the early days after escaping Hyrule Castle, how he had found himself leading a group of children as far as they could go—the ones who hadn’t died had called for their mothers at night as well.

Olin dropped his gloves into the basket of radishes and carrots and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Even more than fifty years later, the memory of the Calamity and the days and years which followed made Olin a little shaky. He imagined those of his generation who survived felt the same terrible loss and remorse for decisions made in the name of survival. 

When he had first built his little house in the village, Impa had once asked him why he had never married. She had married soon after the Calamity, and her belly was swollen with her second child; she glowed with a radiance he had never known in her. He envied her. Somehow—despite the irradiated grounds and periodic fires in the ruins beyond their safe little village—Impa had been able to to make a life for herself and move on from those terrible days. 

At the time, he had shrugged and said he wasn’t ready. When she asked again years later he tried something she might understand—told her how he had loved the princess and could never move on from that. It was only half-true. Certainly, he had loved the princess—she was intelligent and beautiful and brave—likely Impa had loved her even more. He let this slice of his youth become the part of him that everyone knew; he weaved it into his poetry, his entire identity. 

That small lie was more palatable for people than the truth. He feared the loss he had seen during the Calamity, the terrible ways people had died as they rushed from the Castle Town, the burned bodies the Guardians had left behind. He had kept himself safe from the fear of loss his whole life, living nearly as a hermit, travelling the world alone in search of ancient relics to complete his research...now he was raising an orphaned Rito.

Presently, Kass slid open the door and looked about cautiously before stepping down into the garden. At least he seemed to be growing to adulthood more quickly than a Sheikah child, Olin thought gratefully. 

“Do you want to help?” Olin asked.

Kass nodded, agreeable as always, and Olin began to show him how to transplant the sprouts from the tiny pots to their new homes in the garden. Olin hoped Kass could be well enough to one day have more, rather than live alone in his fears as Olin did.

oOo

The winter wind blew in between the towering hills and stone faces more powerfully than Kass had ever experienced. Even Olin proclaimed that he had never felt such a winter in the village; that it must have something to do with the ash in the air from the eruption of Death Mountain. Kass was cold all of the time. He sat near the fire, wrapping strips of cloth over the exposed skin on his legs and feet in preparation for a venture outside.

The snow had built up on the roof of the little house and he and Olin went out to clear it with little success. A briefly warm day had melted the snow which froze into the roof’s thatching the following night. Located next to the sheer cliff walls, Olin’s house had been affected particularly badly by the snow which had slid from the grass mountains above on that warm day. Kass flew up to the roof and tried to pry the ice away with a heavy stick, but bits of the roof came away and he thought could see the fire inside the house.

“Come down, Kass; it’s no good,” called Olin.

Kass didn’t hesitate; the wind was blowing his feathers askew and the snow had soaked through his leg-wraps. He was ready to once more sit by the fire and dream of warmth. That evening they sat by the fire and he listened as Olin read to him from a book on the ancients of Hyrule. 

Kass chafed at his frozen feet and scooted closer to the fire. He started when he thought he heard a creak from above. Olin appeared not to have heard it and Kass looked up at the rafters. Some were slightly slick with ice. Again he heard that creak of wood under stress and stared at Olin who continued to read.

“Teacher, I fear the roof may collapse,” he said, his throat bothering him terribly.

Olin stopped reading and stared at him. Kass realized that this was the first thing he had said aloud since that fateful day nearly a year before.

“Why do you say that, Kass?” said Olin, overcoming his surprise.

“Don’t you hear it?” he asked.

Olin lit a lantern and held it up to inspect the rafters. Not meant for the weight of snow and ice, several were cracked and bowing inward. He sighed.

“Take your hammock and blanket. Anything you need for the night. We must seek a safer place with our neighbours.”

Kass nodded. He felt as though he would rather be buried in the snow than go to the home of other people, but he did what he was told. After wrapping a scarf around his neck twice and rewinding his damp leg-wraps, Kass followed Olin out into the cold, bed-roll tucked under his wing. 

Olin knocked upon the door of the neighbour he knew as Oysha. Olin had referred to her as his uncle’s daughter, but Kass did not know what an ‘uncle’ was and inferred that it was a kinship that Sheikah had and Rito did not. Oysha had a daughter approaching adulthood by Kass’s distant observation from the safety of Olin’s garden. As he heard footsteps approaching the door Kass was suddenly reminded of those words of the children on the beach what felt like a life-age ago; if Olin’s kin thought he was dirty and would make them ill, would he be cast out to freeze?

“Kass,” said Olin, no doubt hearing his breath turn to a wheeze, “no one will hurt you here.”

“Olin,” Oysha said with surprise.

As Olin explained their situation Oysha glanced at Kass, but there was no malice in her eyes. She invited them into their home. It was slightly larger than Olin’s with a half-loft above for sleeping. She introduced her daughter, Jerrin, who had looked older from a distance. Up close Kass could see that she had a gentle dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and she was not nearly so tall as she had seemed. Kass inclined his head toward their hosts as he had been taught.

“Please, sit with us,” said Oysha, offering them each a cup of herbal tea.

Kass held his between both his hands, more interested in the warmth than the contents of the cup. At first he started when Jerrin seated herself beside him but he began to relax as spoke to him pleasantly. He found—for the first time in so long—that this stranger was not so terrifying. As he relaxed he caught Olin’s look of relief. Though Kass was unable to sleep much that night on account of the unfamiliar surroundings, his insides were not clenched in fear.

The next morning, Kass and Olin returned to the cottage to find that the heavy snow had snapped two rafters above Olin’s bed. Olin turned to Kass and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Kass, your words saved my life,” he said.

Kass couldn’t think of a response and nodded. He supposed it was only fair that he should save the life of the man who had saved his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We won't stay in Kakariko Villiage much longer because there's a recovering world to explore.
> 
> Please do comment! I know this is probably just a headcanon dumping ground, but I would love to hear what you think!


	3. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass experiences life outside of Kakariko Village and the discomfort of adolescence.

The spring came late that year and Kass suffered through heavy moulting and growing pains as the season turned. His legs especially seemed to ache at night and his hammock seemed much smaller than it used to be. He refused to leave the cottage while his feather were so scruffy, fearing the Sheikah might laugh at him and his bald patches.

“Jerrin and Symin miss your company in the poetry class,” said Olin.

Kass looked unhappily back at Olin. He had started teaching poetry in the warmth of the early-afternoon in front of the Goddess statue. Kass had gone to a few meetings before his childish down had started coming out in tufts and every day had become uncomfortable and embarrassing.

“Kass, your clothes don’t fit you any more,” lamented Olin. “Come. I will take you to the tailor and once you have clothes that fit you will feel better.”

“It’s not the clothes,” Kass insisted, smoothing his patchy pin feathers and following Olin out of the cottage.

The weather really was fine, thought Kass, soaking in the sun. They walked past the blossoming plum trees, their flowers swaying in the breeze and filling the air around them with fluttering petals. 

In the tailor shop, Kass tolerated the dismayed look of the tailor as he scratched his head and took Kass’s measurements. Kass stood stiffly as the tailor tried to decide how to measure him for trousers and the tape measure rested uncomfortably on his tail feathers.

“This really is quite irregular,” said the tailor, squinting at the tape measure and jotting down the measure.

“Are you able to do this or not?” asked Olin testily. “I’m prepared to go elsewhere if you don’t believe that this is within your capabilities.”

The Sheikah tailor levelled Olin with a dark red stare.

“I have all the measurements I need...if you would be so kind as to pick out some fabric.”

“Kass?” asked Olin.

But Kass was too unnerved from all the humming and hawing on how one designs clothing for a Rito; the whole process had made him feel monstrous. He left Olin to decide on fabric while he fairly flew back to the cottage, imagining he was leaving a trail of pale blue down in his wake.

A week later, Olin brought Kass a package wrapped in twine. He untied it to find a pale grey shirt and trousers and a second, heavier set in brown, both cut for a Rito. He could not recall ever having seen a Rito wear any such thing, but the garments fit and covered the bald patches on his torso and thighs. He strung a burgundy sash through the belt loops for a touch of colour.

“This looks much better,” Olin said.

How he had managed in his old clothes, Kass could not say; he now stood to Olin’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Teacher,” he said.

“I am afraid my reasons for the new clothes do have a selfish element,” said Olin.

Kass could not ever recall a time when Olin had been selfish.

“My presence has been requested in Hateno; the head of the ancient research has requested that I investigate and several locations to include in the history I am writing.”

“Oh...” said Kass, wondering if at last his sanctuary with the old man had run out and the clothes were some sort of consolation gift.

“I want you to travel with me,” said Olin.

This was not what Kass had expected at all.

“Aren’t there monsters on the road?” asked Kass.

“I will not deny that the road can be a dangerous place, but you will soon be grown. I will send you to the weapons master to learn defensive skills as all of our youth are taught. We will leave in two weeks.”

“Two weeks? I can’t learn how to fight in two weeks...” said Kass, the panic making his throat hurt.

“You are learning to defend yourself, not how to fight,” Olin told him putting both hands on his shoulders, “and it’s not for nothing that I am called The Warrior-Poet of the Sheikah. Please accompany me; you are no more suited to this meagre village life than I.”

Kass nodded his agreement, though he was unsure what sort of life he was really suited to.

oOo

Olin had procured horses and supplies and they were set to leave before dawn. The sky was purple in the pre-dawn as Kass checked his lightweight dagger in its leather sheath.

“Kass,” said a whisper in the dark.

He turned to see Jerrin. She was holding a package wrapped in cloth and twine. When they had met, she had been nearly twice as tall as he, but standing this closely to him, Kass could see he had made significant gains in that area and they were now of a height. 

“It’s very early,” said Kass.

“I’m always awake this early for my studies,” she said.

She handed him the package.

“What is it?”

“Apple cake with honey,” she said.

“But where did you get the flour?” asked Kass.

“A vendor came through from Tabantha. It’s my first try using it, but I followed a recipe from my Nan’s cookbook.”

“Jerrin, say goodbye,” said Olin, a little impatient to get on his way.

“Come home safe, Kass,” she said.

She brushed his wing with her fingertips. Kass had the unfamiliar experience of his body suddenly growing unbearably warm under his feathers in the chill morning air.

“Bye,” he called to her retreating figure.

Olin gave him a strange look when he turned, but his teacher was in no mood for dawdling.

“Kass, get on your horse, we need to be going,” he gently encouraged.

As they rode out of the village through the eastern break in the cliff walls, Kass felt a sudden sense of curiosity at this wide open world. By sunrise, they had reached the main road.

“Tell me about where we are going,” Kass said, taking in the sublime beauty of the morning sunlight hitting the face of the split mountain.

“It’s a small village of Hylians...one of the only settlements that wasn’t destroyed by the Calamity.”

Olin’s voice always grew dark when he mentioned the Calamity, so Kass had never questioned him about it. Instead, he had asked Jerrin about it. She had helped him read a passage in a book which detailed several first-hand accounts of the Calamity and recounted the Age of Burning Fields which followed. His parents had once told him of the fires which raged through their village when they were children as rogue Guardians hacked and burned the lush jungle.

It was late afternoon by the time they reached Duelling Peaks Stable, and Kass was sore from riding. After feeding and stabling their horses for the evening, Kass wandered out behind the stable in the cool dusk air. Seeing no one around, he stretched his wings and flapped up to sit on the roof of the stable and look out at the plain behind it, dotted with rocks.

“Those aren’t rocks,” he said to himself.

One blinked blue, its top rotating back and forth in mechanical agitation. The light grew stronger and turned an angry pink before it shot a weak red light at a fox that wandered too close. Kass started. The fox fled, no doubt accustomed to these types of predators in the area, but the grass around the point of impact burned away for a moment before going out. He hopped down from the roof to find Olin.

His teacher was speaking with a woman in the inn. She was stocky and wore mud-splattered leather armour and a short sword on her belt; no doubt she had been on the road all day as well. She stopped talking and held her cup in mid-drink when she saw Kass.

“Goddess, I’ve never heard of Rito in these parts,” she said.

Kass grew self-conscious under her gaze, and felt Olin place a hand on his shoulder and encourage him to sit down at the table with them.

“This is my pupil,” said Olin.

“Good to know ya,” she said, nodding at him and then returning to her conversation with Olin.

Her nonchalance about meeting him was so unlike the staring and curiosity Kass had experienced when he had first come to Kakariko Village. It made him feel blissfully average.

“Have something to eat,” said Olin, pushing a bowl of cooked fish and greens in front of Kass.

“It was terrible...” the woman recounted. “They tried to start a stable between Fort Hateno and the village...twice now. There’s just aren’t enough people to defend another stable right now.”

“What happened?” asked Kass as Olin shot him a warning glance.

“Bokoblins ate the horses, killed nearly everyone in it and took it over like their own personal inn. We had to burn it to the ground in the end; once those bastards get into a place you’re stuck with ‘em. We cleaned ‘em out, though, all along the road to Hateno...at least until the next blood moon.”

Kass’s throat was staring to hurt again with his building sense of dread. He wished Olin had just wanted to stay in Kakariko Village and work on his verses instead of roaming around the dangerous countryside. 

When the lamps dimmed for the night, Kass settled uncomfortably into the Hylian bed. Olin looked over at him from his own bed while he unlaced his boots.

“Is there something on your mind?” Olin asked.

“Those things...in the grass behind here...”

Olin gave Kass his full attention.

“Were those Guardians?” asked Kass softly.

Olin nodded.

“I think I saw one move,” Kass said.

“They do that sometimes,” agreed Olin, “it’s why we will be staying away from them.”

“There are so many.”

“Go to sleep, Kass. I promise to answer all of your questions when we set out tomorrow.”

oOo

They left the stable-inn at dawn. The day was grey and wet, but Olin told Kass the tale of Blatchery Plain as he had promised. As the day wore on, the rain did not improve, but at least the road to Hateno Village had been free of monsters as the woman from the inn had said it would be after their campaign. When they arrived at the village gate, they were halted by the deep voice of a giant of a man.

“Who goes there?”

“Tobin, you know who I am,” Olin said, pulling the silk face cover down from his mouth and nose.

“Master Olin, we’ve not seen you here these three long years. Who is your companion?”

“This my pupil: the Rito, Kass.”

“Never seen no Rito in these parts...but a friend of Master Olin is a friend of ours.”

“A good watch to you, Tobin,” said Olin as they rode through.

Kass did not bother asking about Olin’s apparent fame in this region; he was eager to remove his soaked travelling outfit which rubbed uncomfortably against the patches of new feathers on his torso. He dismounted and led his horse, his legs aching as he followed Olin to the inn.

“Please see to our horses,” Olin said, handing the caller the reins and a few rupees.

As they entered the warmth of the inn, Kass was surprised to hear it filled with music and villagers. He stopped to stare at the three-person troupe playing a wood-flute, a skin drum, and an instrument he had never seen before.

“Kass, don’t stand in the doorway, go sit down,” Olin said, gesturing to a table.

Kass didn’t take his eyes off the troupe for a moment and nearly tripped over a chair as he sat down at the table. The lightheartedness of the music entranced him as Olin brought him a bowl of rice and dark brown meat. When the music stopped he looked down at his bowl.

“I don’t eat this,” said Kass, still uncomfortable in his wet clothes.

“If you want dinner, yes you do,” said Olin, not accustomed to negotiating with Kass.

Kass moodily dipped into the bowl with his spoon, though his mood changed instantly when the man with the unknown instrument came and sat down with them. He was grizzled and old with a fat belly and broken veins in his nose. He drank cider from a glazed ceramic cup, and his face was somewhat red.

“Goodness, but I haven’t seen a Ree-toh since I was a boy in Castle Town. What’s your name, son?” 

“Kass.”

“I’m Tassin,” he said shaking Kass’s hand in his over-friendly manner, “very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“You lived in Castle Town?” asked Kass.

“Left before the Calamity if that’s what you’re thinkin’. Terrible business,” he said, his bushy eyebrows scrunching as he took a drink.

Olin excused himself to see to their sleeping arrangements, though Kass swore he had done that right when they came in. Kass’s eyes followed his teacher as he picked his way through the villagers enjoying their night.

“Oh, he don’t like to talk about the Calamity,” said Tassin, observing Kass’s gaze.

“I’ve noticed,” said Kass quietly.

Talking to Tassin was starting to become uncomfortable, but Kass desperately wanted to ask about that instrument that made such full and bright music.

“He brought a bunch of kids back here from Castle Town right after the Calamity. They were a right state, but who wasn’t in those days? Married one of them...lost her a few years ago though...her and my boy...” he said sadly.

Kass had little skill at angling conversations in his direction; so often, he just let everyone else’s words wash over him. Kass maintained a morbid interest as Tassin described Olin’s arrival with the orphans, the lot of them covered in burns and blackened clothing that fairly peeled off of their bodies. Something terrible seemed to be resting in the pit of his stomach as he imagined the hellish journey they must have gone through. Tassin got up and left with the rest of the crowds before Kass could ask his question.

Olin returned to the table.

“If you’re finished for the night, our beds are in the loft above,” said Olin.

Kass got up, grabbed his damp pack, and followed Olin up the stairs. They were the only two staying the night. Olin stripped off his wet clothes and hung them on the back of a chair. Kass followed his example, trying not to notice the lattice of old burn scars which crossed most of his teacher’s back and arms; it wasn’t the first time he had seen them, but after hearing Tassin’s story Kass felt a terrible weight in his heart.

Trying to set aside the discomfort he felt knowing that Olin had lived through something so terrible, Kass dug through his pack. Though the outside was wet, the contents had not been too badly affected so he pulled on some dry trousers before uncomfortably settling under the blankets.

“You’re very silent,” said Olin.

“Just thinking...”

“About something you would share?”

“Is this whole world just scarred remains of something that happened decades ago?” Kass asked quietly.

Olin sighed.

“No...but the Calamity exists in everything we do, every decision we make.”

“Was it the Calamity that made them drive us from the fishing village?” Kass asked, throat burning.

“That was cruelty and fear...what they did to your people was heinous.”

Kass lay on the uncomfortable bed and pulled his covers to his beak. He had not realized how rootless he felt until this journey. The desolation of the world forced him to reflect on that emptiness inside of himself. 

Olin must have seen his distress because he asked, “what can I do to help you?”

“Are there other Rito?” Kass blurted.

Olin sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Kass’s cheek as he sometimes had when he was small and afraid. Kass got the sense that he was not going to like Olin’s answer so he clarified his intent.

“Only, everyone says they’ve never seen them before. How could that be?”

“I don’t know,” Olin said softly, “but, you are the only one I’ve met since the Age of Burning Fields.”

Kass blinked back his tears, feeling rather to old to weep if he was old enough to be adventuring with his teacher.

“It’s a difficult world we’ve left you, Kass, I’m sorry. All I can do is promise that you shall always have place with me.”


	4. The Warrior-Poet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass has and idle afternoon before setting out once more. Olin gets unhelpful advice from Purah.

Purah was quite mad, Kass had decided. As she directed Olin, she prodded away at Kass with her bony fingers. She asked him questions that he was too stunned to answer, which was fine because she always moved on to something else in the space where he would have responded. She flitted around her lab, her long white hair trailing wildly behind her, pulling books for Olin and directing him to take notes as though he were her student. When she left the lab to run up to her own room to fetch a map she wanted Olin to copy, Olin pulled Kass aside.

“This will likely take a while. Perhaps you ought to go out and enjoy the sunshine,” Olin told him apologetically.

Kass agreed and wandered down the hill toward the village. He stopped under the windmill and practised his letters with a stick in the damp dirt; he had gotten quite good at forming the letters, but he still had to whisper the words to himself when he read.

When the stick broke he followed the path into the village, so like Kakariko but at the same time not at all. The villagers worked away, farming their rice and vegetables in the steppes where their houses sat. A traveller on a roan horse dismounted and led the horse by the reins to the shelter by the inn. It was then that Kass became aware of the stares he was receiving on the main road. The eyes which followed him set his heart pounding, so he followed a footpath and sat down behind another windmill to collect himself.

“You know, this is my hiding spot,” came a child’s voice.

Kass leapt to his feet, startled. He saw it was only a boy with longish brown hair and pink cheeks.

“Momma said there was a Rito in town,” he said.

“Yes, that’s me,” said Kass, trying to recover his calm.

“But where did you come from?”

“Kakariko Village,” he said.

“Hm. I’ve head that’s only Sheikah except for Mazie who left here to marry a Sheikah. Where were you before?”

“I don’t remember,” lied Kass.

“So why are you hiding here?” unconcerned with his answer.

“Seemed as good a spot as any.”

“Well, you’re going to spoil the game if you don’t leave.”

“Right,” said Kass, getting up and preparing himself to go back out into the village.

As he left the hiding spot he found himself missing Jerrin’s company. They had spent the dark days of winter reading together and playing a game with wooden pieces that she told him was called horses and castles. Kass had even attended defence lessons with her, though she was far more advanced and they were never paired together.

As Kass took to the village road again—vowing to make it all the way to the gate without resorting to stealing children’s hiding spots—he was distracted by the sound of music. It was that full, warm, slightly sad sound he recognized from the night before. He followed the sound to its origin behind one of the houses. There, he found Tassin playing for his flock of disinterested sheep. He stopped playing when he saw Kass and smiled.

“Ah, the Ree-toh, Kass.”

Kass saw his opportunity.

“I wanted to ask...what is that instrument called?”

“An accordion!” he said with delight, “my father made it—that was his trade you see, he made instruments. He taught me, but...not much demand for musical instruments in a world such as this.”

“Why not?”

“The world is very different here and now than it was in Castle Town. There, music filled the air; the inns, the pubs, the castle halls, street corners, parks. When the Champions came to town, my father had to hire extra hands to help prepare the pipes and drums for the parade.”

Kass nodded, though he did not know what Tassin meant by a ‘parade’.

“Where do you get an accordion?” asked Kass.

“I reckon this might be the last one in all the world,” said Tassin.

Kass’s face fell.

“But if you like instruments, I make flutes and drums...I’m afraid my father couldn’t teach me much of the craft...we were so busy just trying to eke out a living...now it’s just me and my daughter-in-law and my grandkids...”

Kass nodded.

“I’ll play you something...you’re better company than the sheep anyway,” Tassin said.

Kass sat down and listened; the tune was warm and put him in mind of horses, warm breezes, and sunsets. When he realized how late it was getting, he thanked Tassin and returned to the inn where Olin was already supping. Kass sat down beside him an accepted the bowl Olin pushed toward him.

“Didn’t you wonder where I had gotten to?” Kass asked, a little surprised that Olin was not scolding him for being late for dinner.

“No. I saw you listening to Tassin’s music.”

“Did you get your map?” asked Kass.

“Yes, and many other things. We set out tomorrow.”

“Oh...”

“You can stay here if you really want to,” said Olin.

Kass thought about it, and realized the closest thing to home was with Olin.

“I’m staying with you,” said Kass.

“Then make sure you’re prepared to leave in the morning.”

oOo

Kass felt a little disappointed leaving Hateno Village the next morning, but the weather held up as they followed the path down to Hateno Bay. It was slow going along the sand to Kitano Bay and they had to lead their horses for much of the way. 

In the evening they settled under the cliff walls on a bank that was sandy with some sparse grass. They tied their horses to a pair of palm trees and Olin fed them oats from their feed-bags and carrots that they had purchased in Hateno. Olin directed Kass to collect driftwood for a fire.

“We’re staying outside?” asked Kass nervously, dropping the wood beside Olin.

“It’s better to find a safe spot and camp for the night than to move through the darkness not knowing what may be waiting for us. The weather is clear and we will keep watch,” said Olin, arranging the driftwood around some dried reeds.

Kass flew out over the sea a little ways and plucked a fish from the water. He returned to the camp where Olin gutted it and stuck it on a sharpened stick to roast near the fire. Kass fidgeted as he sat beside the fire, digging his feet into the sand. His vision seemed fuzzy and there was a rushing in his ears that he didn’t think was the sea.

“I’m not sure I can sleep here,” said Kass.

“Why not?”

“Something about sleeping outside...” Kass sucked in his breath, his heart pounding.

“Kass?”

Kass clutched at his chest and Olin came to his side. He couldn’t seem to form full thoughts as the panic took up residence inside of him. He pulled his legs up to his body and wrapped himself in his wings. Goddess...this hadn’t happened in months...

“Those villagers...” Kass choked, suddenly unsure about the friendly faces of Hateno.

“We’re nowhere near there, Kass.”

“Not the fishing village...Hateno.” 

“What about it?”

“Would they hurt me if I wasn’t with you?”

“This isn’t a helpful line of questioning...”

“I don’t want to sleep outside,” Kass gasped, trying to suppress the shivers that coursed his body in waves.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much of a choice,” Olin said.

“Please,” Kass begged.

“Kass, I’m sorry. Maybe I should have left you at the inn...”

“No,” Kass disagreed.

Olin did what he usually did when this happened. He wrapped his blanket around Kass’s shoulders, and sat quietly beside him waiting for the spell to pass. Kass stared at the moon on the water trying to catch his breath but it only reminded him of the fishing village at night and he couldn’t control his tears as his mind wandered to his mother and father. Finally, Olin put his arm around Kass’s shoulders, and pulled him close.

“You aren’t alone,” he said.

Kass could no longer hold himself together.

oOo

Olin was unsure of how he had convinced Kass to finally rest. At some point he had cried himself out and laid his head on Olin’s outstretched leg and fallen into a restless sleep. Olin stroked his shoulder and smoothed his blanket until he was sure that Kass was asleep. For all he was beginning to look grown, Olin had to remind himself that Kass was far from an adult...probably, he still wasn’t entirely sure about the Rito life cycle.

When Kass had left Purah’s lab the day before, Olin inquired about a text on the Rito.

“The Rito?” she had said, hands on her hips, “if you haven't noticed, Olin, this is an Ancient Tech Lab! All of my books are on matters of the ancients and their technology!”

“Surely not all,” Olin had said.

“No you’re right, but why would you think there is anything—”

“Really, Purah! Just let me look through your index,” he begged.

“You can’t,” she blurted.

“Why ever not?”

“I don’t really keep an index...I know what’s here, where everything is, and that everything is mine,” Purah had told him. 

Upon reflection this revelation had hardly surprised Olin; Purah’s sense of organization had always been suited only to her.

“I’ve been left with this poor child, his tribe slaughtered, and I know so little about their growth and their health and I’ve no one to ask! What am I to do when he reaches adolescence? That could be tomorrow given the rate he’s growing...and he’s so damaged from what he’s seen...”

“ _That_ sounds familiar...perhaps you simply see too much of yourself in him,” said Purah, pushing her glasses up her face.

“What?” 

“Oh please, Olin. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“I just...I want for him a life that is good and normal...”

“Normal? Traipsing about Hyrule with an old fart like you?”

“Old... _you’re_ old.”

“We don’t get to choose anything for anyone, Olin. Don’t you get it? My parents wanted me to marry that Staveen guy and have twelve babies...maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but...you know, fuck this, I’m not a parent and I’m not really that invested. I’ve been holed up in my lab for half a century. If he’s traumatized give him what you wish you had when you felt that way...or don’t, I really only need you to follow these leads and figure out if they have any ancient tech.”

Presently, Kass stirred and whiffled slightly in his sleep. Olin adjusted his blanket and stared out to the pillar surrounded by rocks in the bay. There were no tell-tale lights of ancient tech, but this was a spot which Purah had marked on the map. He pulled out the notebook he had painstakingly cut and bound himself and a charcoal pencil. He sketched the rock formation, easily picked out against the moonlit waters. Looking back at at the notes Purah had made, he worked out a verse he might later put into the history he was writing.

Kass was restless for a few more hours, half-waking and drifting off again. As the sky lightened before the sun’s arrival Kass sat straight up, his blanket sliding onto the grass. His eyes were somewhere else. Olin called his name over and over until recognition set in.

“It’s morning, Kass. You made it through.”

They broke their fast and tended to the horses.

“Kass, I don’t think there’s a way I can make it to that pillar to investigate. Are you able to fly that far?”

Kass lifted his head and wings, ostensibly feeling the wind and nodded the affirmative.

“See if you can find any bits of ancient tech. The material is the texture of the Guardians, sometimes with crystal. Can you do that?”

Kass nodded and took off with his legs, flapping into the sky then drifting on the breeze. He landed on the pillar, then hopped between the stones, looking in the water. He gave up his search, reached the pillar once more and spread his wings to drift back to shore.

“What did you see?”

“Fish,” shrugged Kass.

“No technology?”

“Nothing.”

“Alright, let’s move on.”

oOo

By late morning they had reached some stone ruins. Inside were a hearth and cooking pot although they looked as though they had been unused for decades.

“This was an inn once,” said Olin nostalgically, running his hands along the stone.

Kass walked in through the door and tried to imagine the building in its prime.

“Kass, please kept watch. I need only shut my eyes for an hour.”

Olin unrolled his bedroll behind a stone half-wall. Kass wandered around the outside of the structure, trying to amuse himself for an hour. It didn’t look terribly old; the door frame and existing walls still stood straight. Standing atop the highest wall he thought he could make out Hateno in the distance. Turning west he could see Duelling Peaks was not so far off as he had thought.

He dug around the ground, and found two rusted swords. Perhaps they had fallen off of the wall, thought Kass looking at the stains from what could have been a rotted wood stand. He picked a few mushrooms and watched the sparrows hop about on the road. As the birds took off he looked up to see a rider approaching.

“Teacher, someone’s on the road,” Kass whispered, waking Olin.

Olin pulled himself stiffly to his feet and walked out to the road. His countenance turned dark as he observed the rider.

“Stay here, keep your head down,” Olin told him, pointing at the bed roll.

Kass peaked around the edge of the wall, confident he couldn’t be seen. Olin grabbed the reins of the horses and led them down the road, pulling up the hood of his cloak and shuffling in a manner that made him appear much older than her really was.

“Old timer,” came the voice of the stranger.

Kass could see the man dressed rather similarly to the Sheikah, but he felt uneasy.

“Son, that is no way to speak to your elders,” said Olin, sounding rather older than usual.

“My apologies, respected elder. I’m but a travelling merchant.”

“And what would you sell me then, peddler?”

“I carry fresh fruit...bananas.”

The merchant got off his horse then suddenly shouted: “Sheikah scum! You will not thwart the plans of our master.”

Kass squeezed his eyes shut against the sound of metal on metal and clenched his hand around the dagger at his waist. A crack and a scream forced him to peek out once more.

“It’s alright, Kass. You can come out,” said Olin.

Olin stood above the man who was face-down in the dirt, one arm splayed out in a strange angle. Olin held his own eightfold blade to the back of the man’s neck and a blade that must have belonged to the man was resting against the inside of the man’s leg. Olin pinned him in place with a foot on his back.

“Greatness...you travel with a Bird-man...” scoffed the man into the dirt.

“A _Rito_ you mannerless boy,” said Olin, pressing the blade lightly against the back of his neck.

“If you’re going to kill me make it fast.” 

“I’m not going to kill you. What kind of lesson would that be for my pupil?” 

Kass was shaking, staring at the scene. He had been worried that Olin would kill the man, but why shouldn’t he? If the man was evil perhaps he deserved death. The conflict knotted Kass’s insides. 

“It would be a lesson in the harshness of this world. You are soft—as all Sheikah are—and that is why you have lost to Ganon.” 

“I won’t stand and debate who has won and who has lost here. Kass, take this man’s horse, leave him his provisions.” 

Kass did what he was told with shaking hands, grabbing Olin’s bedroll under one wing. 

“Now get onto your horse hand me my reins.” 

You won’t live to regret this,” came a threat from the ground. 

“You are a poor fighter. Perhaps you should reconsider your allegiance to the Yiga Clan,” said Olin, putting away his weapons and mounting his horse. 

“If I see you again, I _will_ kill you,” Olin promised, motioning to Kass that they ought to be riding. 

Kass looped the reins of the stranger’s horse around the horn of his saddle and kicked his own horse into a gallop, following his teacher’s example. When they slowed Kass looked over at Olin. 

“Why did you let him live? Won’t he hurt other travellers?” asked Kass. 

“It’s possible, though I took his sword and you took his horse. He targeted us because I am Sheikah. I can’t imagine he will have much interest in Hylians. 

“But if we took his protection haven’t we left him to die anyway?” asked Kass, feeling sick about the whole thing. 

“We have left him to make a choice about how he wants to conduct himself. Make no mistake; given the chance he would not have done the same for us.” 

Kass glanced over at his teacher and saw a dark red stain soaking his sleeve. 

“You’re bleeding.” 

“The bleeding has stopped. We’ll see to it at the stable.” 

They reached the stable in the early evening. Olin sold the horse they had acquired, but wrapped the sword in his bedroll. The woman whom they had met a few nights earlier returned to the stable that evening to a cheer. She sat down with Kass and Olin who were cleaning and binding the laceration on Olin’s forearm. 

“Ah, my friends the Sheikah and Rito! Please tell me your travels have been good to you.” 

“They’re so happy to see you,” Kass remarked. 

“I’ve run down every monster on the road from here to Lake Hylia in the last two days,” she said, accepting a cup of mead. 

“But the blood moon just brings them back to life,” Kass said. 

“That’s my life’s work,” she said, “I keep the roads around this stable safe for travellers.” 

“Have you had any trouble with the Yiga Clan?” asked Olin, checking the bandage. 

“Never heard of ‘em,” she said, taking a swig of her drink. 

“They would appear as Sheikah, but would likely be talking about...” he hesitated. 

Their friend raised her eyebrows. 

“Bananas...” 

“Never met anyone like that,” she said with a crooked smile and huff that might have been a small laugh. 

That night Kass settled into bed, still uncomfortable, but getting used to the discomfort of Hylian beds. He said goodnight to Olin, but tonight he did not share any of the thoughts that were disturbing him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my Purah. I wanted her to be sort of task oriented and devoid of social skills in her old age...then I realized I actually really enjoy writing Purah...there may be another story in this one day soon.


	5. A Light About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olin and Kass continue their journey. Kass faces some dark reminders of the nature of post-Calamity Hyrule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for ambiguous assisted death.

After a brief stay in Kakariko Village—Olin had insisted that he speak to Impa about the Yiga operative—Kass and Olin had set out once more.

“Things will be more dangerous here,” Olin warned him, “but we will avoid riding through Lanayru’s swamps. Be sure to be aware of your surroundings.”

“Have you come this way before?” Kass asked uneasily as they rode around the perimeter of the Lanayru Wetlands.

“Yes, though this is unfortunately the longer way around,” he said.

“Are those...houses in the swamp?” Kass squinted at the tiny islands where the structures stood.

“Once.”

“Who lived there?”

“Hylians mostly. When the roads were better I have heard Sheikah would stay there on occasion, and the proximity of the Zora’s Domain meant that the village had good ties with their people...in better times...”

“What happened to them?”

“Some were killed, some fled. Oysha’s late husband—Jerrin’s father—was born here. I have heard a very few were allowed to live out their days in the Zora’s Domain.”

Kass logged another ruin in his memory with that melancholic feeling he was beginning to become accustomed to. No wonder Olin’s face never really registered happiness; while the rest of the Sheikah kept themselves safe between the cliff faces around their village, Olin stalked the world making notes and accounting the losses. Perhaps when Kass was a better writer he would write a book as well: ‘Abandoned Villages of Hyrule’.

They could not make it to a stable before nightfall and were forced to take shelter in a damp lean-to along the road to Akkala. Kass could feel his teacher’s eyes on him; after the last time they had had to camp out, Kass hardly blamed him.

“Do you want first or second watch?” Olin asked.

“First I suppose,” said Kass.

“This is a well-travelled stretch of road. Wake me if anyone or anything approaches,” said Olin wrapping himself in his bedroll.

Beside the shelter, the horses were calm, grazing away. Kass cut an apple with his dagger, eating it in slices to pass the time. He grew used to the sound of crickets and bullfrogs, their calls becoming a sort of music to him. His watch was uneventful, and when he woke Olin the sounds of nature helped him drift easily to sleep.

oOo

It was near the Akkala Span that they encountered trouble. A cluster of moblins and bokoblins had taken up residence in the ruins near the bridge. They circled their fires; the bokoblins conversing and chanting in grunts and squeals, the moblins resting lethargically. Kass felt his heart pounding so hard he wondered if the force of it might shake him from his horse.

“Just stay on your horse. Walk nice and calmly,” said Olin softly, “they likely won’t pay us any attention.”

Kass’s horse—no doubt sensing his apprehension—snorted and shook her head. She danced a little as Kass tried to direct her toward the stone bridge. Olin saw him struggling and reached out to take the horse’s bridle to guide her in the right direction.

“Stay calm, Kass,” Olin said, his voice low.

They began their crossing when a squeal behind them set Kass’s horse into a panic. Olin’s grip on the bridle slipped as the horse reared and raced off across the span. Kass did not have the wherewithal to flap his wings when the horse threw him and he rolled gracelessly across the stones. Putting his horse between Kass and the oncoming bokoblins, Olin drew his blade.

“Kass, get up!” he urged.

Kass—blindly obeying the voice he trusted—felt pain shooting through his wing as he pushed himself up from the cobbles. He reached up and grasped Olin’s outstretched hand and half-scrambled onto the horse. Olin pushed his horse into a gallop and Kass held on to his teacher with his good wing, fearing he was about to fly off the back of the horse at their breakneck pace.

By the end of the bridge, outrun, the bokoblin had given up its chase. It squalled its rage and turned back to its campfire. When Olin slowed his horse, Kass was shaking with adrenaline, having processed how close he nearly came to the end of a spear. Olin dismounted. Gasping and cradling his wing, Kass slid down after him.

“Are you hurt?”

“I might be,” said Kass, fearing to even walk lest the movement jar the injured limb.

“Stay here,” said Olin, tying his horse to a white-barked tree, “I’m going to get your horse.”

Kass’s traitorous mount was happily grazing a short distance away as though she had not just thrown Kass into harm’s way. Olin took an apple from his pack and caught the creature by the reins. He fed her the apple and patted her neck to regain her trust as he returned to Kass.

“We are very near the Akkala stable,” Olin told him, “are you able to ride a little longer?”

Kass cautiously peaked at his wing. The feathers were rumpled and a few had come out. Beneath the feathers the skin looked scraped from the stones though there was not much blood. What bothered Kass was how the bones seemed to shift and throb in a manner that made him feel quite light-headed. He looked up and Olin and nodded shortly.

“You can ride my horse,”Olin told him, “I’ll lead if you’re too shaken.”

Kass agreed and let Olin help him mount the taller steed. Olin took the reins and Kass held onto the saddle, his injured wing tucked close to his body. Olin had been right about the proximity of the stable; even at their slow pace they arrived before sunset.

Unlike other stables which they had visited in their travels, this stable was a hive of activity. Covered wagon loads of wood beams, rope, and canvas rested in rows outside of the stable, guarded by a few burly Hylians. Several tents were set up along the side of the road. The stable manager looked a little harassed as her daughters served up meals from the communal cooking pot into wooden bowls.

“May I ask what is going on?” asked Olin from his horse.

“They’re building a stable north of here,” one of the daughters replied, “they set out tomorrow.”

“Who’s the lucky one who gets to run that?” asked Olin.

“Thon. I don’t know him well, says he comes from Lurelin.”

Kass shook his head. He must have misheard. Olin cast a brief glance back at him.

“Thank you for your help...?”

“Sou.”

“Thank you, Sou,” said Olin, pulling his horse up beside Kass.

“Do you recognize the name? Thon?” he asked him.

Kass just shook his head numbly, his wing throbbing along with his heartbeat. Olin looked as though he was considering his options. He gazed out at the growing darkness and the ominous red glow of the blood moon in the east then back at Kass. Kass was attracting stares, as usual. Olin made his decision; he dismounted and spoke to the stable manager. Kass followed his example and let one of the stable hands take his horse.

“Do you have beds for the night?” Olin asked.

“Fortunately. Almost everyone sleeps in the camp they’ve set up; wouldn’t do for the Stable Association to cannibalize their own business,” she said.

Olin thanked her and they left the cool night air for the shelter of the stable. Kass sat on the edge of the bed, barely able to stand the pain a moment longer. Ignoring the bustle and stares from outside, Olin took his wing and gently felt for fractures. Kass grit his beak and bore it until Olin probed a particularly painful spot. Kass inhaled sharply and strangled his instinctive screech.

“I can’t tell whether or not its broken,” Olin admitted, drawing back as Kass protested; neither of them wanted to attract anymore undue attention.

“What should I do?” Kass asked, cradling the limb protectively.

“I’ll see what supplies they have,” said Olin, going to speak to Sou once more.

As Kass watched his teacher leaving another figure crossed his sight. Thon looked very much like the villagers Kass remembered; his skin bronzed from the sun, his hair streaked by the same light, his eyes green like the sea. Thon looked at him—not with the curiosity that had followed Kass through Kakariko and Hateno—but with a flat recognition. His lips pressed into a tight line, Thon turned and left the stable.

Kass sat stock still, every muscle in his body tense with the feeling he had just had a narrow miss with fate. Olin came back with a basin, a roll of cloth bandages, and a ceramic cup. His gaze followed the path to where Kass’s eyes were fixed on Thon disappearing among the milling convoy.

“Do you recognize him?” ask Olin, gently taking Kass’s wing and cleansing the scrapes.

“I don’t know,” said Kass dully, his eyes fixed on the tent that Thon had disappeared into.

Olin’s eyes remained on the tent for a moment as well.

“I think you ought to stay here while I go north with the caravan.” 

“Stay here?” asked Kass incredulously.

“Give your wing some time to mend. Riding right now will no doubt make it worse.”

“Teacher, I want to go with you.”

“Perhaps we should sleep on it,” Olin said.

Kass was familiar with this tone; Olin often placated him by pretending to defer a decision that had already been made. He bandaged Kass’s wing and pressed the warm tea into his good hand.

“Drink this, it will help you sleep,” he said.

Kass nodded and did as he was told. Too shaken to protest, he downed the beverage and lay back in bed. It wasn’t long before things began to seem a little fuzzy around the edges and far away. He no longer really cared that his wing hurt. Olin checked on him once more before Kass closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

oOo

Kass awoke before sunrise chilled to his core. Sea green eyes had followed him in his nightmares. As the world became clearer, he became aware of the throbbing in his bandaged wing. He glanced over to where Olin slept soundly and resigned himself to silently bear the pain. If he lay really still, it hardly hurt at all. He stared at the canopy of his bed trying to chase the nightmares from his mind. Whether or not Thon had been involved in...that day...Kass couldn’t bring back what he had lost. He did his best to focus on what was ahead so he didn’t find himself crying in front of strangers.

He heard the workers in the assemblage stirring and pulling down their tents. The sounds woke Olin. He rose, pulled on his boots, and came to check on Kass.

“I see you’re awake. How’s your wing?”

“Fine,” Kass lied.

“If it’s still painful I can give you something.”

“It’s not. I should come with you.”

“I don’t believe that would be wise,” said Olin.

“But I’m alright.”

“The road is more dangerous north from here. I spoke last night with some of the locals and I’ve heard reports of Guardian Stalkers still prowling the area.”

“Then why even build a stable?” Kass complained.

“It’s symbolic. To take back what they’ve lost and safeguard it for future generations. And to have more safe places for travellers to stop makes all of Hyrule safer,” said Olin.

Kass remained silent, lying still so as not to set off the pain in his wing. Olin fastened his weapons and cloak as he spoke.

“I’ve spoken to the manager and paid for your stay. You are not to leave sight of the stable. I will be back for you soon. A few days at most.”

Kass didn’t respond.

“I’m not abandoning you, Kass. I would not do that. Do you want something for the pain?” he asked again.

Kass nodded and Olin pulled a sealed bottle from his pack and pressed it onto Kass’s good hand.

“Have a drop of this diluted in water. It might make you tired, so not too much,” he said.

Kass grabbed onto Olin’s hand before he withdrew. What if something happened to him? Olin might be a fine swordsman, but he wasn’t exactly young.

“I have to go, Kass. A few nights, you’ll be alright,” Olin said, holding Kass’s hand in both of his for a moment.

“Yes, Teacher,” he said mechanically, letting Olin go.

oOo

Kass could not claim to be feeling much better, but with the convoy having departed—including two of the stable hands—at least he was not overwhelmed with company. He sat moodily by the cooking pot, half-listening to a wiry man with pox-scarred face and dull, lank hair telling him about some mythic sword.

“I imagine with a sword like that...you’d be unstoppable...” he said.

“Hm,” Kass mumbled, disinterested in the treasure hunter’s drunken rambling.

“Kass, do you want dinner?” asked Sou approaching.

“How come you never ask me if I want dinner?” asked the treasure hunter.

“Well Cyd, if you paid your bill on time maybe we’d offer you dinner,” she said.

“Would you make me dinner if I married you?”

“I’d probably kill you in your sleep,” she said cheerfully.

Kass followed Sou into the stable and sat down to eat. He poked at the meat with his spoon; he really preferred fish.

“I hate that guy,” Sou confessed to Kass.

“Is he here a lot?”

“Only when he’s down on his luck. He takes out some of the nearby monster nests and we let him stay. Don’t really see many folks in Akkala.”

“Have you ever seen any Rito?” Kass asked her with a spark of desperation.

“Only you...” she said trailing off.

“Only me...” Kass whispered sadly to himself.

“They say Rito once lived in the forests north of here, but their settlement was destroyed just as ours was.”

“So just Hylians then?” Kass confirmed.

“Sometimes we have some Goron merchants...but not since the volcanic eruption. I hope they’re alright, they were always so fun to talk to—”

“Do you hear that?” Kass asked just a second before Sou’s mother called her outside.

Kass followed to see a half-dozen horses riding south towards them, some bearing two riders. Kass was shocked to see that many of the riders were injured. Most had burns showing through the holes in their blackened clothing. Kass could not see Olin among them.

He helped the stable staff lay the most injured on beds and pallets inside of the stable and ran for whatever supplies Sou told him to. Cyd fetched water from the well when he was handed a bucket, though he made some remark about wanting to be fed for his efforts. The sole remaining stable hand saw to the horses and the rest of them saw to the injured members of the party.

As Kass dressed the open wounds on one man’s shoulder and arm he asked about his teacher.

“Never saw anything like it,” said the man, “thought he was just some old man. He led the charge against the thing and it retreated right off the cliff...not before it got a few of us though.”

“But he’s alright?”

“Seemed to be. He kept on with the rest of the party.”

Kass listened to snatches of conversation, trying to piece together what kind of creature had attacked them. It sounded like the Guardians he had seen in Blatchery Plain only with mechanical legs that ran quickly like long-legged spiders.

By the end of the night, Kass found himself seated on the ground beside a young man—a boy, really—who hardly looked older than Jerrin. He was laid out on a pallet, and Kass had heard it whispered that he has not expected to live. Indeed, Kass had been shaken to see his insides when Sou’s mother had pulled back the bandages. The boy moaned in pain and sweat beaded across his greyish face.

“I have something that might help you,” Kass said quietly.

“I’m not sure there’s—ah...” his voice dropped off.

“With the pain,” said Kass.

“Pain means you’re not dead yet...but I’m a little conflicted...” he said.

Kass reached out and held the boy’s hand.

“Because all I want to do is sleep...but I don’t think...”

He squeezed Kass’s fragile bones as he began to cough, bringing up blood. Kass did his best to comfort him.

“What’s your name?” Kass asked.

“Pel.”

“Is there anyone I should write to on your behalf?” Kass asked.

“No one I know can read...just talk to me for a while.”

“Uhhh...”

Pel coughed again, holding himself together with both arms. Kass stroked his damp hair, unsure if he was worried that Pel would die right away or suffer on for hours.

“Just talk about...anything,” Pel grunted.

Kass told him about the trip to Hateno, about the boy hiding behind the windmill, and the accordion player and his captive audience of fluffy sheep. When Kass ran out of words he just held Pel’s shaking hand.

“My brother...” said Pel after the silence stretched out between them, “...he died in the attack...I fear I am about to follow. He was the only family I had left in this world...”

Pel squeezed his eyes shut. 

“I think I’m ready for this pain draught,” he hissed.

Kass put the open bottle into Pel’s hand. Pel drank the entirety of the liquid and blinked his eyes as the effects set in. After a short while he looked up and Kass. His expression was confused but no longer lined with pain.

“You have a light about you,” Pel whispered and drifted off into painless sleep.

Shaken, Kass left the inn and returned to his seat by the cooking pot.

“That was decent of you,” said Cyd, taking a swig of some foul beverage from a drinking skin.

Kass said nothing and stared into the flames. Some time before dawn Sou told him that Pel had died and Kass could not even summon the energy to feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is becoming pretty heavily reliant on OCs as supporting characters, but if you've checked out the first story in this series you probably have an idea of the direction this is headed. Kass just has to get through some stuff first...


	6. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer is ending and it's time to return to Kakariko Village.

Olin had promised it would only be a few days before he returned. After more than a few days, Kass received a letter from his teacher along with directions addressed to the stable manager. Kass handed off the letter to Ena—as he had come to know the stable manager. Ena was a kind woman, who had let Kass stay beyond the end of what Olin had paid for because of his help the night the injured guards had returned.

“Sou,” Ena said, “it says you’re to ready yourself to go north to the new stable.”

“What?”

Ena pulled Sou aside so that Cyd would not eavesdrop, though Kass could still hear them very well.

“You’re to take over management of the stable,” Ena said quietly.

“But why?”

“It seems that Thon fell from his horse and was trampled.”

This seemed strange to Kass; how could Thon have been killed in such a banal manner? Strange as well that Olin had written them...though the ability to read and write was not a given among Hylians, Kass knew.

“That’s terrible...” said Sou.

“Sousanna, didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I can’t run a stable, no one will listen to me! A young, unmarried woman!” Sou protested.

“Your brother is already there; he will help make people listen. And if you do this, you won’t have to worry about a good marriage! You can have your pick of men if you want them,” her mother told her.

Kass pretended to be reading his letter when Sou glanced around the room.

“You will go back with the guard who delivered this. She will ensure your safety on the road north” said Ena.

When Sou had packed her meagre possessions and saddled her horse she said goodbye to her mother and sister. She stopped where Kass sat cross-legged, still pretending to read.

“I’m glad I got to know you, Kass,” she said sadly.

“I feel the same,” he said.

“Farewell.”

As Sou left, Kass took the time to actually read his letter. Olin, it seemed, had been roped into a research project by another Sheikah researcher and would be late arriving back to the stable. Kass sighed and tucked the letter in his pack, afraid that he was about to be foisted upon someone else.

“My teacher will not return for some time,” Kass told Ena, “in the meantime I would like to do what I can to help out.”

“But your wing, dear,” she said with a concern that was painful in its sincerity.

“It’s getting better,” said Kass, “and you’ve lost some help around here. Let me do what I can.”

“If you’re very sure,” said Ena.

Kass spent the afternoon collecting mushrooms and helping feed the stabled horses. He was quite worn when he lay down to rest at the end of the night, but he was kept awake by a strange thought: what if Thon’s death had been no accident and Olin had some part to play in it?

oOo

Every day began the same way: Kass would rise early and help the remaining stable hand tend to the horses, then he would spread some scratch for the Cuccos, and make sure that all of the animals had clean water. Though he found the water-pail heavy and hard on his injured wing, he completed this exercise without complaint. He fetched horses when he was told to and took them from the guests on those rare occasions that guests arrived. He collected herbs and mushrooms through the day, venturing further and further from the stable as he grew familiar with the area.

Without Sou to talk to, Kass’s mind occupied itself with the suspicion that had accompanied the letter. Had Olin killed Thon? Could he have? Olin certainly had the skill to do such a deed and Kass shuddered to remember the stare that Olin had given the man.

Kass’s thoughts were interrupted by Cyd’s arrival. He threw his reins to the stable hand and immediately shouted to Kass for cider.

“You’ve drank all of our cider. The next shipment won’t come until next week,” said Kass.

“I couldn’t have had all of it!” he returned miserably.

“Certainly the Lynel’s share,” Kass deadpanned.

“You’ve a smart mouth...perhaps I should say a smart beak,” said Cyd, striding menacingly toward Kass. Fearing that Cyd might break his bones, Kass leapt and flapped up to the roof.

“Cyd!” shouted Ena, “if you threaten my staff you will be banned!”

“I’m the only thing keeping the monsters from eating your staff!” Cyd argued.

Kass remained perched upon the roof. In the golden glow of the afternoon he thought he could see a rider through the trees. He climbed a little higher on the wooden horse’s head that protruded into the sky. The rider was riding south on the west road and would no doubt end up at the stable.

Wary of Cyd’s temper when he had not had a drink, Kass fluttered down into the pen with the grazing sheep at the back of the stable to avoid the wrathful treasure hunter. His chores were completed for the day so Kass sat beneath a tree to watch the grazing sheep. One of the dogs sat down beside him, expecting affection, which Kass bestowed upon it absently. He was not overly fond of dogs as they tended to bark at him and treat him with more hostility than they treated Hylians, but this one was not nearly so aggressive as some of the dogs at other stables. 

Kass pushed the dog away from his face as it huffed its hot breath at him. It’s ears moved at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Kass.”

Kass looked up to see his teacher standing before him. Olin’s clothes were a little tattered from travel and he bore a new pinkish scar near his eye, but this was unmistakably Kass’s teacher.

“It’s been more than a moon’s turn,” Kass said, his heart thrumming with the adrenaline of conflict.

“Yes,” agreed Olin.

Kass just stared at Olin, unable to put into words the peculiar anger at being abandoned or the suspicions that Olin had played a part in Thon’s death.

“Your wing looks better,” said Olin.

“Yes.”

“Ena’s told me that you’ve earned your keep,” he said.

Kass stood.

“I thought perhaps I’d make a career out of it,” Kass said impulsively.

Olin’s face fell.

“You are of course free to do with your life as you please,” said Olin.

Kass felt immediate regret, but as he was still feeling rather betrayed about being left behind for so long said, “I haven’t yet made up my mind.”

“I will stay the night and start my return to Kakariko Village on the morrow.”

Kass nodded. Olin turned to leave but paused.

“You always have a place in my home, Kass.”

oOo

Kass was going with Olin because he needed to know if his teacher had killed Thon. At least, that was what he told himself. His desire to return to the Sheikah village, of course, had nothing to do with the lingering memory of curious dream he had had the night before. In it a young woman who said she was Jerrin (but looked rather like Sou) had rubbed her nose gently across his beak. When he had awoken in the night he had felt completely unsettled, but there was also strange warmth in his chest that was not unpleasant.

They were riding through the Lanayru Wetlands on the second day of their journey when Kass started to press Olin.

“When we return to the village, will it be to stay?” asked Kass.

“For now. I’m afraid the season for travelling grows short, and I have a great deal to translate before I can be sure about other locations I need to visit.”

“How did you come by the scar?” Kass asked, pointing to his own eye.

“Not in battle if that’s what you’re wondering...”

Kass waited, suspecting the Olin was not going to tell him. Olin caved under Kass’s stare.

“The Akkala Ancient Tech Lab is run by a man named Robbie. Like Purah, he has dedicated his life to studying ancient technology. In the valley beside his laboratory is a ruin—a few houses, barely a hamlet. The area was full of decaying Guardians. Robbie wanted my help to to bring them up to his laboratory so that he could reuse their parts. One still had that spark of life and lashed out at me with its clawed foot. Luckily, Robbie has been developing weapons that employ ancient technology and put an end to its miserable existence.”

This answer offered Kass no hint of the question that had plagued his mind these past weeks.

“Now let me ask you a question, Kass. How many summers have you seen?”

The question took Kass completely by surprise, but he thought about it.

“I’m not sure, eight...perhaps ten.”

“Nearly grown by your people’s standards,” said Olin.

Kass did not know what to say about that. Certainly, he had gained some height in the last few months, and the last of his childish-down was hidden awkwardly under his shirt. Was a couple of summers all it would take?

“Though not by yours,” Kass said.

“Measure yourself to the standard where you are comfortable. The Sheikah expect their children to conform to adult roles quite early. If I have been expecting maturity beyond your years it is only because I see it in you.”

“It’s not too early...I’m afraid that I am changed from what I have seen, and certainly no longer a child,” said Kass, thinking of how he had comforted poor Pel as he died.

“That may have been torn away from you, but your heart is still kind, your mind is still sharp...and I never intended for you to have to survive on your own when I left you at that stable. You’ve been sullen with me the past few days. I hope you can forgive me.”

Kass—struck by the suddenness of the apology—was reminded that Olin had saved his life on more than one occasion. He also could have left him behind in Kakariko Village but had hoped Kass would grow beyond those meagre borders. Disappointed though Kass had been not to accompany him, he realized that Olin did what he thought had been best for both Kass and his own mission.

“Teacher, there is nothing to forgive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short post after the unannounced hiatus. I wrote this chapter a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to get any more out of it; it doesn't seem to belong with either the chapter before or the one after. I considered writing about Robbie and Olin, but they were being extremely boring. I think I always end up with a chapter or two like that in my longer fics. I am going to try to get the next one up ASAP.


	7. Grown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass and Jerrin's research brings them closer together. Olin tackles a difficult topic. Kass decides it is time to embrace adulthood.

The summer was short that year, but even as the cool fall air set in Olin kept up his poetry classes by the statue of the goddess. Kass attended the classes to enjoy the company of the other youth of the village. His own writing and reading had improved enough for him to share a verse of his own.

_Static summertime_  
_The dog pants its fetid breath_  
_In spite of the breeze_

“Does that mean you don’t like dogs, Kass?” laughed Symin.

“Some dogs,” said Kass.

“That’s enough for today,” said Olin, calling the class to an end.

Kass watched Olin return to his cottage. His teacher would no doubt work on translations long into the night. The students scattered, leaving Kass and Jerrin seated in the grass by the pond. Behind them, Impa watched the village from her balcony and welcomed one of her adult daughters back for the evening.

“I think I want to go study the old shrine,” said Jerrin, “care to join me?”

Kass nodded and accompanied her up the steep hill, though he could have more easily flown it than gone on foot.

“You’ve grown so tall,” she remarked.

“I thought perhaps you’d just shrunk,” he said.

“But you really just stayed at that stable all summer?”

“Why are you so interested?”

“I’m not interested in the stable,” she admitted, “I was hoping you had met Robbie. My mother says I will be sent to either Robbie or Purah to continue my studies.”

“Oh,” said Kass.

“Not soon...I don’t think so anyway. But they both have so much to offer the next generation of scholars.”

“Well Purah is...a lot,” said Kass.

“I’ve heard that,” Jerrin agreed.

Jerrin paced the perimeter of the shrine, running her fingers along the tiny spaces where the door was sealed. Kass perched atop the shrine, his talons scrabbling on the smooth stone.

“I think I can feel the air move between here and inside,” Jerrin said, pressing her face against the mossy runes.

“If there is anything inside,” said Kass, giving up on the slippery perch and landing on the embossed circle at the front of the shrine.

“It’s like the air invites you in,” Jerrin said, still tracing those tiny gaps.

Kass thought it was rather more like an unremarkable piece of stone. He had seen several on his journey; most of them overgrown with moss. He sat beneath an apple tree where the hill gave way to the sheer stone face and watched the village below while Jerrin tried to rationalize some way into the shrine. Behind them a branch snapped in the forest and voices approached. Kass leapt to his feet, pulling the dagger he now carried at all times.

“Kass, stop!” called Jerrin.

Kass froze and saw it was just the weapons master and his eldest daughter. The two had managed to bring down a mountain buck. The carcass was strung limply on a thick branch they held between them.

“You’re jumpy, Kass,” said Cayl, the aging weapons master.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said Kass sheathing his weapon and bowing his head in contrition.

“Perhaps more training is in order,” he suggested.

“I will be in attendance at the next session,” Kass promised, ashamed that he had become so edgy.

“Good. Your vigilance has been noted,” he said as he and his daughter carried the buck down the hill.

“You _are_ jumpy,” said Jerrin.

“It’s possible that I’ve picked up some bad habits,” Kass admitted.

Jerrin sat down in the grass and looked out over the village. Kass sat back down beside her.

“I’ve missed your company,” she told him.

“Me too.”

“All I do without you is read and make notes...and put up with Symin.”

“Symin is a lot sometimes,” agreed Kass.

“Isn’t he just?” Jerrin agreed.

A thought struck Kass.

“You have access to pre-Calamity maps, don’t you?” he asked her.

“I believe so. Why?”

“I need your help...”

oOo 

Kass found himself much busier that winter than he had the previous one. Each morning he went with Jerrin to study maps in the small library in Impa’s home. He was looking for indications of Rito settlements. Unfortunately, many of the maps pre-dated the Calamity by many decades, even centuries. Some were wildly inaccurate because of poor cartography or soil erosion. Still others, Kass could not decipher as they were written in Ancient Sheikah script.

“You want to look for this suffix,” said Jerrin, pointing out a cluster of letters that just looked like different squares to Kass.

“Why?”

“It indicates a Rito settlement,” she said.

“But how do I know where this is today?” asked Kass.

“You have to compare it to the most current maps.”

“It’s nowhere...it looks like it crumbled into the sea,” said Kass in frustration.

He put his head in his hands. He really was beginning to believe he was the last Rito in existence. Jerrin stroked his shoulder soothingly.

“You mustn’t give up,” she said.

“Am I just torturing myself?” he asked.

“Nothing worth knowing comes to you in a day.”

“It's been far more than a day...”

They heard Impa enter the room. Jerrin abruptly withdrew her hand from where it had wandered to Kass’s back.

“I have been debating whether or not to share this with you, Kass,” Impa said, joining them at the long table.

Kass and Jerrin both stood and waited for Impa to sit before taking their seats once more.

“When the princess travelled to the Rito Village to assign a pilot to the Divine Beast Vah Medoh, I was in attendance as part of her Royal Guard.”

With a bony hand she pointed to a lake in the northwest, her finger tracing a circle around it.

“The Rito Village was here; the centre of their culture and capital of their civilization. There were Rito in attendance from across the Hebra region—here,” she traced along the mountains, “even representatives from the tropical regions were in attendance.”

Impa seemed far away, lost in her memory.

“Their banners flew all through the mountains and hills. We passed through a village where Rito and Hylians lived together in harmony, farming and hunting...they had an extraordinary market, unique wares that showed the best of their combined cultures...”

Impa trailed off, perhaps thinking of the beautiful things she had seen.

“But I have not crossed to the west of Hyrule since the Calamity. Those who have crossed Hyrule Field tell stories of Guardians still running freely, killing half of those who are foolish enough to cross their paths.”

Her age-clouded eyes met Kass’s.

“My dear boy, I have withheld this knowledge from you not out of malice, but out of concern for you. After the Calamity nearly all of Hyrule’s villages lay in ruin east of the castle. I fear the same must have happened in the west to our Rito allies. There has been no word of Rito to reach my ears in all these long years.”

Kass fought the tears welling in his eyes.

“I have shared this in hope that it might help you find peace, not to encourage you to to go looking,” said Impa.

“Thank you, my lady. Please excuse me,” said Kass, leaving the confines of Impa’s home.

Not wanting the guards to see his tears, he leapt from the balcony—in what he assumed must be some breach of protocol—and flew to the shrine above the village. Though not so brutal as the previous winter, the frozen grass nonetheless bit into his feet through the leg-wraps. Kass crouched down by the shrine. He could no longer attempt to contain his grief and loneliness and wrapped his wings around himself as he wept. To be the last of your kind was a terrible burden he felt far to young to endure. 

“Kass.”

He lifted his head to see Jerrin. He wiped at his tears self-consciously.

“You forgot your cloak,” she said.

The icy grass crunched under her knees as she crouched down in front of him and wrapped the cloak around him. She held his face and tried to brush the tears from his feathers.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Whatever for?”

“This,” he said, gesturing to his face.

“For feeling?”

“I seem to be suffering from an abundance of feeling,” he said, suppressing his hiccoughs.

“It’s alright.”

He buried his face in her shoulder and she stroked his head.

“Kass,” she said, her hand still gentle on his feathers, “I don’t know if I should tell you this...”

“Tell me what?” he asked, raising his head to look at her, a flicker of hope building inside of him.

“You must promise not to do anything irrational,” she said.

“I promise.”

“No, _really_ promise me, Kass. Swear it on everything you hold dear.”

“I swear on everything I hold dear that I won’t do anything irrational,” he repeated, becoming impatient.

“I have made a habit of speaking to merchants who come through the village to see which shrines they have passed. The one who claimed that he came through Tabantha...he told me that he has seen Rito from afar. They stay isolated and are hostile to outsiders,” Jerrin’s voice was soft and even.

“Why have you kept this from me?” asked Kass numbly.

“Travellers and merchants sometimes tell tales. All my life I have heard only this one mention, and I don’t want you to risk your life on hearsay.”

“Then why tell me at all?”

“Because if it is true, you should know. I would rather you live in hope than defeat.”

She held his face he clasped his hand over hers. Somehow Jerrin always made him feel a little less lonely.

“You should go back,” said Kass, “I know you have reading that must be done.”

“Alright. Don’t do anything stupid,” she said.

To his great surprise, she brushed her lips against his beak and left without another word. Kass stood and watched her leave, suddenly warm in the freezing winter air.

oOo

Olin had been dreading this moment since Kass had first begun to grow adult feathers the previous year. The book he had borrowed from Robbie had been rather clinical on the matter as well, but Olin kept it on hand just in case. Now—if what Impa told him was correct—he had an even more difficult conversation ahead of him. How was he to talk about biology _and_ feelings?

Kass slid open the door, the slush from the early spring thaw had soaked his leg-wraps. He sat on a stool near the door to unwind them and hummed a tune to himself. Kass had been genuinely happy these last few months. Olin dreaded that he was about to dash that happiness, but Impa had insisted that he must do it or she would. Olin knew she would not spare Kass’s feelings.

He served Kass’s favourite stew into two bowls while Kass hung his sodden leg-wraps near the fire.

“How was your defence lesson?” Olin asked as Kass sat down.

“I think I’m getting better,” he said.

“That’s good,” said Olin.

Kass looked at Olin suspiciously as he dipped his spoon into the bowl but did not eat. Olin knew he could already tell something was coming; Kass had always been far too perceptive.

“Impa came to speak to me today,” said Olin.

Kass dropped the spoon back into his bowl with a viscous splash. His expression was one of horrified guilt. This was not at all what Olin wanted.

“Kass...you are nearly an adult, it is not strange for you to feel...” he trailed off.

“Feel what?”

“Urges...sexual...romantic...”

Kass’s wings dropped down to his side and his expression grew more telling. Olin had not thought that this would turn out so badly this quickly.

“It’s not wrong to feel this way...it’s only...”

“I’m...not allowed to feel that way...about a Sheikah...” said Kass in a mortified whisper.

“No. No, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“It’s what Jerrin said that people would say if we were found out...we haven’t done anything wrong. We’ve hardly done anything at all.”

“It’s alright, I do not need to know,” said Olin.

Olin panicked and picked up the book he had taken from Robbie’s and set it in front of Kass.

“This is what I wanted you to know, that I was going to make sure you knew anyway. I did not think there was any need to hurry the matter because it seemed unlikely that you would meet a Rito over the winter...”

Kass stared at the book. The exposed skin around his eyes appeared rather flushed.

“We absolutely have not done anything resembling _that_...” Kass said defensively, pointing at the book.

“Alright...and if you have, then that’s alright too.”

“We haven’t!”

“I am not trying to make you give each other up, truly,” said Olin, trying to deescalate the situation.

“But you won’t defend us, either.”

“Please listen,” said Olin, sitting down and looking directly at Kass, “Jerrin is being sent away.”

“Because of this?”

“No. Jerrin was always going to be sent away because she has a duty to her people and to all of Hyrule. She must go and study with an expert in ancient technology because Robbie and Purah are getting old. You have seen the poison which infects Hyrule.”

Kass nodded.

“One day, I’m told, the hero will rise again. Whether or not that happens, someone will again be forced to fight against the Calamity Ganon. This time we intend to have ancient technology at our disposal—to have a better understanding of how to use it—and Purah and Robbie have the only remaining labs. Their research must continue beyond their individual efforts.”

“She didn’t think she had to leave right away,” Kass protested.

“I will admit, this...situation may have encouraged Impa to send her ahead of schedule.”

“Then I want to go with her!”

“This is one time when you cannot,” sighed Olin.

“Because it won’t be allowed?”

Olin nodded. 

“Well why not? You always tell me I can live my life whichever way I choose.”

“Do you think Purah or Robbie will allow you to disrupt their life’s work?”

Kass stared despondently at the cold stew.

“We all have someone in our lives with whom we could never be.”

“No one believes the princess thing,” Kass shot back resentfully.

“Whether or not you believe that I loved the princess is immaterial. I have had love in my life, and like everyone who has ever suffered a broken heart, I have moved on.”

“Of course, I’ll just move on. Never mind that there are no Rito. I’ll just live my life alone since it’s inappropriate to love anyone outside of your own kind,” Kass snapped.

“I did not say that and I do not believe it,” said Olin, though it was clear that Kass would remain stubbornly singularly-minded about the situation as youth in love were wont to do.

“I’m going to bed,” said Kass, aggressively getting up from his seat and pulling the divider across the room.

oOo

Jerrin had been sent to Purah on the first clear day of spring. She left Kass with only a kiss on his cheek and a gentle brush of her nose against his beak when she said farewell. Kass could hardly bring himself to leave the cottage, especially after Symin mentioned that there were rumours circulating.

“About me?” Kass had asked incredulously when the two were paired together in defence lessons.

“That you seduced her,” said Symin, a wicked smile on his boyish face.

Kass had never before felt the urge to hit someone in the face, but Symin had nearly been the first to meet with Kass’s temper. Rather than headbutting him, Kass had turned and walked away. Symin and the other village youth snickered behind his back as he left the lesson and fled to the safety of Olin’s cottage.

To add to his misery, Kass had shed the last patches of down from his chest and could not bear the rough fabric of his shirt against the unfurling pin feathers which grew in their place. He lay in his hammock with an aching heart.

“I’m doomed to be lonely,” he moaned, hoping Olin would fight with him.

“I know you feel terrible,” Olin said, bringing him tea.

“Aren’t you going to tell me that I won’t be lonely forever?” Kass prompted.

“My mother was said to have the gift of foresight, but it was not a gift that I inherited,” said Olin irritatingly. 

Kass covered his face and moaned.

“Kass, you must do something. You have scarcely left your bed for days,” said Olin.

“Do what?” asked Kass.

“Anything. Get some fresh air.”

“I’ll go to Hateno.”

“Not that.”

Kass rolled from his hammock. His head was abuzz with anger at Symin for laughing at his pain, at Impa for causing it, and most of all at Olin for going along with it all. Kass unhooked his hammock and began to roll it.

“Kass, what are you doing?” Olin asked apprehensively.

“I’m doing something,” he said pulling on his shirt, ignoring how it rubbed against the new feathers.

“Kass, please.”

Olin reached out and held Kass’s wing. Kass yanked it back and Olin stepped back cautiously.

“I need to leave,” said Kass, packing his belongings.

“Don’t ruin things for Jerrin,” Olin said.

“I’m not going to Hateno,” said Kass, fastening his dagger on his belt, “I need to leave because can’t bear what the village seems to think of me.”

“What is it that you’re hearing?”

“That...a Rito and a Sheikah...are monstrous together,” said Kass, his voice breaking, “they think I...tricked her and did...things to her. It wasn’t like that...”

“I am going to set out once more in a few weeks. We can be away for the entire summer,” said Olin.

“I can’t wait that long,” said Kass, pulling his pack over his shoulders.

Olin followed him through the darkening village to the west entrance.

“You needn’t strike out alone, and at night I might add!” Olin pointed out.

Olin’s voice was as desperate as Kass had ever heard it, but his half-baked idea carried him on between the stone cliff faces. He stopped where the walls ended and Olin stopped beside him.

“Where is it you plan to go?” asked Olin, as they stood looking out on the grassy slope.

“I’m going to see if there’s work at one of the stables,” said Kass.

This time Kass didn’t struggle as his mentor took his wings in his hands and looked up at Kass, his expression less guarded than usual. Kass had trouble believing that this man had once appeared so tall and had not so long ago scooped him up in his arms when he was distressed or in trouble.

“I promised never to stop you from doing as you wished,” said Olin, “but never forget you can always come home. I will always welcome you.”

Kass nearly lost his nerve for a moment at the emotion in Olin’s voice. Then he recalled how claustrophobic the village had become and realized he was never meant to live out his life there.

“Thank you for all that you’ve taught me,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

He took a deep breath and spread his wings to glide down the slope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a poetry generator for Kass’s haiku. I’m an astonishingly terrible poet...
> 
> Also you of course know how Mipha regrets not looking grown though she is basically an adult (and Finley too for that matter). I think the Rito may have the opposite problem to the Zora. I’m pretty sure this idea recurs in other fan fiction so I can’t claim responsibility for it and I also can’t credit it to any one particular writer, but I do like it and wanted to explore it.
> 
> In case this chapter has made you worry about the direction of the story, it's heading towards roughly the beginning of my first story in this series. Not quickly.


	8. Riverside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass receives a letter with an opportunity and catches up with some old friends.

It had been nearly five years since Kass had left Kakariko Village. He had spent his days working at Riverside Stable. The staff there were not nearly so friendly as the ones at South Akkala Stable had been, though the travellers were more interesting than Cyd had been. Also, unlike South Akkala Stable, Kass could sometimes see the Guardian Stalkers in Hyrule field when he perched atop the bricolage horse’s head. 

On the rare occasion that the Guardians reached the top of the hill that shielded the stable from the view of Hyrule Field, Kass’s duties required him to distract rogue Guardians from the air so the guards could hack at their legs and sell their parts to merchants. Kass had once even put out a Guardian’s blue crystal eye with his dagger when it had injured one of the guards, though it had cost him some singed feathers. 

How anyone managed to get across the field on their own, Kass could not say. He feared even to fly over the field as he had often been targeted from below by the mechanical creatures. He had heard that a road near the plateau was free of Guardians, but it suffered from an unfortunate moblin problem. He supposed that he would rather face lumbering moblins than the calculated shots of Guardians.

Olin would visit the stable once or twice a year, but Kass could tell that the Guardians creeping so near stirred an unease in him that Kass sometimes felt among Hylians. Kass ignored his own fear most of the time, but there were travellers that did not register surprise so much as revulsion upon seeing a Rito—whispering that he was a ‘birdman’ and sometimes even less flattering epithets. Kass had begrudgingly come to accept this as a part of living among Hylians in troubled times. 

On this particular evening, Kass had settled in his hammock, ignoring the rowdy guests celebrating a victory over a Guardian with their cups of cider. 

“Kass,” called the manager, cutting through the inebriated chatter of the young men.

“Eldis, I’m sleeping,” said Kass.

“You’re not. Get this guy’s horse, will you?”

Kass sighed and stepped out into the dark to take the reins from the visitor.

“You’re Kass?” said the visitor.

“Why?” asked Kass, always hesitant to give up information to Hylians he didn’t know.

“I came from Hateno. I have a letter for you from the lab there.”

Kass paid the rider for the letter and tucked it into his belt and stabled the horse. Hoping to read the letter in peace, Kass took a lantern from a crate and lit it from the fire with a taper. He took the lantern to the dock and sat down with his letter.

_Dearest K,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. I am sending this to you in hopes that you will come to Hateno Village for an opportunity that I think you are well suited to. I have recently spoken with the Board of the Stable Association regarding their push into western territories. I mentioned you, and it seems they are looking for someone with your abilities to help them. Please come to Hateno to speak with them at your earliest convenience._

_Your Friend,_   
_J_

His heart was pounding; Kass did not want to lose this chance. If he was honest with himself, he also did not want to pass up the opportunity to see Jerrin. He fairly ran back into the inn and took down his hammock.

“What are you doing?” Eldis demanded, as Kass hurriedly gathered his things.

“I’m quitting,” said Kass happily.

“You can’t quit.”

“Fine, I’m relocating. I’ll take my wages now if you don’t mind.”

Eldis grumbled as he gave him a few rupees. Kass dropped them in a drawstring purse and closed it in a leather pouch which hung from his belt. He saddled his horse while Eldis watched from the stable-side of the desk. 

“Can’t count on good help,” Eldis complained.

“You can’t guilt me,” Kass said, securing his pack.

“Well then...take care of yourself you big blue bastard.”

“You too, old man,” said Kass, mounting his horse.

Kass kicked his horse into a trot and followed the river to Proxim Bridge. The moon was full and he made good time. He saw no sign of monsters along the way, though he had carefully avoided riding through the stone ruins of what he had been told was once a military outpost. Even from a distance he could hear bokoblins grunting away, their shadows dancing on the crumbling stone walls.

Kass crossed the bridge at a walk, hoping that if he was calm and quiet he would not attract the attention of that monster colony so nearby. When he had made it to the other side, a voice called out from a bivouac just inside the woods.

“Friend or foe?”

“I’m not a monster if that’s what you’re asking,” said Kass.

“I know this voice,” came the voice of a woman.

“Lita?” called Kass.

The monster hunter of Duelling Peaks stepped into the firelight. Kass had come across her more than a few times when he had been sent between stables.

“Kass, the Rito stable hand. It’s the middle of the night! What’re you doin’ here?” she said.

“Nothing sinister, I promise. Just making haste to Hateno.”

“Then you should know, the way is clear. Pender and I have made sure of it,” said Lita, glancing back at her lounging companion.

“My side of the river was notably silent as well. You didn’t do an extra run did you?”

“No. It’s strange,” said Lita, attuned to all things monster-related, “things are gettin’ quieter; the blood moon comes less often. Perhaps this world might be fit to inhabit after all.”

“Are you heading to the Duelling Peaks Stable?” Kass asked her.

“No, down towards Lake Hylia and on to Lakeside Stable. We have a contract to escort some folks from Lurelin to Hateno. A wedding party apparently; the first between the two villages in more than a decade.”

In recent years, Kass had pushed the fishing village so far to the back of his mind that it seemed as though it had happened to someone else. The name landed upon him like freezing water, making it real once more and leaving him a little unbalanced. His horse shifted beneath him, sensing his unease.

“I’d best be off,” said Kass, his throat unbearably dry.

“This rate, you’ll make it by morning. Take care of yourself,” said Lita.

“Yes. And you,” said Kass, urging his horse into a trot.

Kass was between the mountains when the sun broke over the horizon, but he could see its light glimmering in the dewy grass ahead. The sight left him feeling hollow and alien. He worried he might be in Hateno when the party from Lurelin arrived. Then what was he to do? His fears about somehow meeting the perpetrators of the attack had subsided in recent years as he had learned by word of mouth that the people of Lurelin rarely travelled far from home.

It was still early when Kass arrived at Duelling Peaks Stable, but he found himself too anxious to stop for more than a bite to eat. He traded his horse for a fresh one and carried on with his journey. As he came to where the roads diverged, Kass was momentarily torn about whether he wanted to go to Hateno or return to Kakariko and hide in Olin’s cottage from the growing apprehension.

“You’re not a child,” he told himself, and steered his horse on toward Hateno.

oOo

Kass was extremely uneasy—not to mention sleep-deprived—when he reached Hateno late in the evening. His mind was preoccupied with worries about encountering travellers from Lurelin, though he reassured himself that they would not arrive for perhaps weeks. He squinted up toward the Ancient Tech Lab, but he could not see any lights on. Sighing, he decided to stable his horse and stay at the inn.

“I remember you,” said the innkeeper, “the Rito who travels with Master Olin.”

“Not for a few years, now. But you are correct,” said Kass.

“So it’s just one bed for tonight then?”

“Yes,” said Kass, paying quickly and ascending to the loft. 

Three of the beds were already occupied, no doubt by representatives from the Stable Association. Kass draped his travelling cloak at the end of the bed and fell asleep on top of the covers. All night he dreamt he awoke to find the occupants of the other beds were the Lurelin party Lita was escorting. In one of the dreams a man who resembled the village leader’s son held a knife to his throat.

Kass awoke to find that it was only his shirt collar pulling against his neck from his strange sleeping position; it had been a while since he had slept in a Hylian bed. The sun had not yet risen, and the others who roomed there for the night were still asleep. Kass—too anxious to settle himself in a strange place—went out into the cool air of the early morning. He followed the path up through the village around the edge of the pasture where Tassin had played the accordion years ago.

A blue light...no, two...caught his eye. Following the fence along the rocky outcrop, he saw the face of the woman carrying a torch flickering with blue flame and his heart nearly burst. He leapt from the ledge to glide over the stream to the open field where she lit an ancient lantern.

“Jerrin!”

She started and Kass jumped back to avoid being hit by a flaming torch. Recognition crossed her face.

“Kass...Goddess, how did you get here so quickly?” she asked.

“I rode...all night then all day.”

She reached out and grasped his hand and a warmth Kass had not experienced in years spread through his chest. He had thought he was over this adolescent infatuation, but seeing Jerrin reminded him of the happy days they had spent trying to find any spare moment to curl up alone together.

“Wow, eager,” she said.

“What?”

“Just seems like you’re coming on a little strong, riding all day and night,” she smiled.

“All night then all day! I stayed at the inn last night,” he said, taking his hand back. “And I’ll have you know I was growing bored of raking horse shit.” 

“I’m kidding! Don’t sulk!” 

“I’m not sulking,” Kass muttered.

“Come,” she chided, taking his wing familiarly, “I need to bring this flame to the lab and light the lanterns along the way.”

Kass went with her, though he took his wing back, remembering the rumours which had swirled around them in Kakariko.

“What’s the matter?”

Kass turned to face her. In the blue light he couldn’t see her tiny freckles—or maybe she had outgrown them. Kass guiltily thought she had grown more beautiful into her twenties.

“People think it’s improper...a Rito and a Sheikah.”

“What’s improper? Friendship? Intellectual intercourse?”

“Wow, don’t say intercourse—nobody thinks that’s just talking.”

“What’s happened to you?” she asked.

“I just think maybe we need to be very clear...I don’t want to be run out of town because people think I’m some...”

“Seducer of young women?” Jerrin supplied, though her eyebrows were furrowed.

Kass’s heart ached to think that she was angry with him.

“I wanted to see you,” said Kass, “more than I knew. But I’m here for the job.”

Jerrin nodded, the indignant lines leaving her face.

“I want to know if there are Rito in the west,” said Kass.

“That’s why I wrote you. I’m sorry. I let some remnant of inappropriate feelings for you get in the way of your search. You’ve just...” her eyes briefly flicked over his form, “good job growing up.”

“Yeah, you too,” he said with a half-smile.

They carried on lighting the lamps up the path to the Ancient Tech Lab. Jerrin invited Kass into the lab for breakfast. Kass looked around the room, about to ask where Purah was. Purah revealed herself in dramatic fashion, pushing aside a stack of books from her seat at the wooden table in the centre of the lab.

“Jerrin, have you lit the Ancient flame?”

“Yes,” said Jerrin.

“And where did you get this Rito from?” Purah asked.

“This is Kass, remember? Olin’s ward.”

Purah narrowed her eyes at him and pushed her glasses up her face. Jerrin set a cup of tea respectfully in front of her her mentor.

“Jerrin, you’re fussing again,” complained Purah.

“I’m not fussing it’s only tea.”

“I don’t need tea, I’m working. I need a book from my room, dark blue binding, gold letters, this thick,” she told Jerrin, showing the size with her gnarled fingers.

Jerrin dashed from the room, leaving Kass to stand awkwardly under Purah’s gaze. Purah looked rather worse for wear compared to the last time Kass had seen her. She sat hunched over the table, tinkering with a piece of ancient equipment, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. 

“Olin’s ward...Rito, sit,” she said to him.

Kass obeyed without hesitation, sitting stiffly at the other side of the table.

“Where is Olin?” she demanded.

“In Kakariko Village, I believe.”

“You’re his ward, why don’t you know where he is?”

“I’m an adult. I no longer live there.”

Purah grumbled and cleared her throat.

“Another Rito once told me he was adult, but he was a boy like you. My work sent him to his death...but his is just another for which I have to account.”

Kass’s last interaction with Purah had been overwhelming; she had been full of energy, barking orders to Olin and needling Kass with questions. This conversation left him chilled.

“Let’s get to business,” she said, “I need ancient parts: screws, gears, cores. I know you you will be travelling—perhaps to places where the husks of Guardians have not been picked over by scavengers. If you can acquire any of these for me, it would be helpful.”

“I can do that,” Kass told her.

“Good,” she said.

“I have your book,” Jerrin announced, returning.

“Take this boy and a basket and go get some milk and eggs from the market,” said Purah, “leave me to my reading.”

Kass followed Jerrin outside. The sun had risen, its light shimmering in the dewy grass. Kass shivered and drew his cloak around himself as the cool air swept down from the mountains.

“What’s happened to her?” Kass asked.

“She’s been experimenting with the runes on a Sheikah Slate that she somehow cooked up. The woman’s an absolute genius, Kass...but she’s been talking about the Calamity so much this past year. The guilt she feels, you’d swear she thinks _she_ caused the whole thing.”

After their visit to the shop, Jerrin walked Kass over to the inn to make the introduction to the Stable Association representatives.

“Nikalph,” she called to a portly, grey-haired man, “this is Kass.”

“I’ll be damned, he is a Rito! I thought maybe you’d tried a funny mushroom—because no offence darling—but you’re so beautiful I thought maybe you were coasting into research positions on your good looks.”

Jerrin’s face tightened a little, but her glance to Kass told him to keep his beak shut.

“Well, I’ll let you get on with your assessment,” Jerrin said, leaving.

Kass sat down on the stool where Nikalph gestured, wanting to defend Jerrin’s years of training and simultaneously dreading what the man might say about him.

“So, you can fly, scout out locations?”

“I can,” said Kass tersely. 

“And she said you can read and write,” he said gesturing to the door where Jerrin had left.

“Yes, I can do both very well.”

“And you’ve worked for the Stable Association for how long?”

“Nearly five years,” Kass said.

“Any combat experience?”

“I trained with a Sheikah weapons master...and I have had to defend myself in a few skirmishes near Riverside Stable.”

“I have to be honest with you, Kass,” Nikalph said leaning back in his seat. “There hasn’t been a lot of enthusiasm for the position and with your ability to fly...well let’s just say no other applicant has been able to make such a claim.”

“So you’re hiring me?”

“Consider yourself hired. You’ll be working with the survey team. They’re not much to look at but who else are we going to get to go west?” he laughed to himself, though Kass wasn’t sure what Nikalph found so funny, “after the fiasco trying to set up East Akkala Stable, we decided to have the scouts work more closely with the convoys.”

Kass nodded politely, assuming that the deaths from the Guardian attacks were what Nikalph was hand-waving. Did he know that Kass had seen the aftermath of that incident?

“The party sets out at dawn in two days, they’ll meet you at the gates.”

“Thank you,” said Kass.

He quickly left the inn, wondering what exactly he was agreeing to. He was ready to leave his position at Riverside but he didn’t like the way that Nikalph talked about people with such disposablity. Kass followed the path back to the Ancient Tech Lab and caught up with Jerrin at the end of town.

“Jerrin...”

“Kass, are you hired?”

“Yeah...why do you tolerate those things he says to you?”

Jerrin sighed.

“I didn’t want to put him in a bad mood before he spoke to you.”

“If he ever says—”

“Kass, he’s your boss. You might have to tolerate him saying things to you too.”

“I meant you! You’ve worked so hard your entire life!” Kass said, drawing attention from a nearby farmer.

“Don’t worry, he won’t go on the expedition. He values himself too much,” she said, trudging angrily up the hill.

“Jerrin,” he said, stopping her with a touch on her arm, “don’t feel like you have to go out of your way on my behalf. I’m so thankful that you did this for me, but...just don’t worry about me any more.”

“Oh, Kass,” she sighed, “I’ll always worry about you.”

oOo

Jerrin had work to do in the lab with Purah that afternoon, so Kass was left to his own devices. The day was warm and slightly cloudy so Kass retraced his steps through the village to the house where Tassin lived. A woman pulled weeds from the garden and a boy approaching adolescence tended to the sheep. As Kass approached, the woman stood up and brushed her hands on her apron. She turned to see Kass and stepped back in shock.

“I’m sorry that I startled you,” said Kass.

“I was not expecting to find a...” she scrambled for a word.

“Rito?” Kass supplied flatly.

“My goodness, aren’t you tall...” she stammered.

“Does Tassin still live here?”

“You want to see my father-in-law?” she asked as though Kass were as mad as Purah.

“I had hoped to,” said Kass.

“You should know, he’s not well,” she said leading Kass into the house.

Kass nodded and followed the woman into the home. The fire in the hearth was burning despite the warm spring and Kass felt suddenly stiflingly warm. Tassin sat dozing in a rustic wooden armchair with a blanket over his lap.

“Dad,” she said waking him.

Tassin opened his eyes and coughed a little clearing away the sleep.

“This Rito wants to talk to you,” she said.

Tassin raised his bushy eyebrows and smiled as his eyes came to rest upon Kass.

“Ahh. The Ree-toh Kass,” he said fondly.

“I’ll leave you to it,” his daughter-in-law said dismissively as she returned to her garden.

“I was in the village. I thought I should visit,” said Kass.

“Just in time I should think,” said Tassin dryly.

“How’s that?”

“Surely even a youngun you can see I am soon to meet the goddess.”

Kass sighed.

“Don’t be sad m’boy. Never be sad for those of us who have lived our full lives when so many others perished in youth.”

“I feel sad for every loss,” said Kass sincerely.

“You used to be so shy,” remarked Tassin.

“I suppose I did. I guess I grew out of it.”

“But you came for the music, didn’t ya?” Tassin said, his face split with a grin.

“Only if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No trouble. Music is the memory of a world which we can no longer live in. Fetch my accordion,” he said gesturing to a case in the corner.

Tassin played for Kass as long as he could manage before he grew tired. Kass carefully returned the accordion to the case for Tassin. Tassin’s customary cheer had faded as he grew too tired to play the music he loved.

“The only thing I regret,” said Tassin sadly, “is that when I go, all the memories of those who went before...my parents, my sister, my wife...my dear son...who will remember them?”

Kass knew this feeling. He imagined that he was the only one who would remember the tribe of tropical Rito, faded and fragmented though those childhood memories were.

“Tell me about them,” said Kass.

“What?”

“I can write. Tell me the story of your life, of everyone you’ve known. I have to leave in two days but...if you tell me your stories, I can preserve them.”

“You would do this?”

“Too many things are forgotten. Let me save a few.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think in-game the idea is that the Guardians became active when Link awoke, but I also think that having some Guardians remaining active in Hyrule Field especially can account for why the previous centre of the civilization is so empty. Also, I think it provides a reasonable explanation for the slow expansion of stables. I do try to stick to the canon, but I’m also not one to let strict adherence to canon get in the way of telling a story...especially when so much of the story of post-Calamity Hyrule has to be inferred from the landscape.


	9. Convoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass navigates the old road north with a convoy to set up Serenne Stable and has a change of heart about the Hylians with whom he travels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a bit of battlefield medicine and monsters that want to eat people.

Kass had set out from Hateno with the ragtag group two weeks earlier and he was still entirely unsure if any of them were trustworthy. He knew Cyd certainly wasn’t. In another age he might have been called mercenary, but Kass knew him to be a has-been treasure hunter who suffered bouts of rage and despondency when he was without drink. Kass couldn’t understand the Hylian desire to drink fermented and distilled beverages. He had once tried a sip of cider at Riverside Stable and had been so ill and in so much pain he had curled up in his hammock begged for paper to write a farewell letter to Olin. Whatever his faults, Cyd was the only one of the group who really spoke to Kass. 

Silda was not much of a talker, so Kass could perhaps excuse her for never conversing with him. She spent most of her time cleaning and sharpening the small arsenal of weapons she wore on her body. The only thing she had ever said to Kass was that he should find more weapons. Silda was quietly protective of their cartographer, Erie. That Erie was Silda’s lover was something Kass had not immediately caught on to. It wasn’t until Cyd had pointed it out and laughed at his innocence that Kass recognized their closeness for what it was.

Erie spoke often but usually to no one in particular, or perhaps just herself. She was good at making sure they were going in the right direction, but often ordered Kass about, telling him to fly higher and get a better look at their surroundings. Sometimes she made Kass draw what he saw from the sky, then traced over it, trying to get the most accurate map. Erie was not cruel, but she had said very little to Kass outside of their usual course of business.

Ruron was a youth with limp dark hair and pasty skin who had not quite grown into himself. He was tall and fast, but Cyd shouted at him that he was clumsy with a sword when the two sparred. Ruron was quite skilled with the bow, which he claimed to have used since he could walk. He often brought down game to supplement their meals. (“You have shit for brains?” Cyd would shout. “All this blood’s going to attract bokoblins!”)

The last member of the group had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Kass early in their journey. Lamak was a fighter and a carpenter who claimed to be from Lurelin and that was all that Kass knew about him. Kass avoided Lamak easily as the Hylian seemed perfectly happy to keep his distance.

That night, Kass sat by the cooking pot at Outskirt Stable watching the dark clouds roll in. Around him, the people from the supply convoy bustled about, preparing for the next morning when they would set out. Kass wondered why he had left his comfy position at Riverside; none of these people seemed to want to have anything to do with him and he always felt lonesome among them. 

Cyd sat down beside him. A skin of bitter herb spirits in his hand issued forth a scent that reminded Kass of his near death incident.

“Why do you drink that?” Kass asked, pulling away from Cyd and covering his face with the back of his wing.

“Takes my pain away.”

“What pain?” complained Kass.

“I don’t bug you about your pain,” Cyd returned.

“I don’t have any pain.”

“Hm,” grumbled Cyd, “no pain, that’s why you’re afraid of Lamak.”

“I’m not afraid of Lamak.”

“Don’t let my beautiful face fool you, I’m actually quite astute,” Cyd said.

Kass rolled his eyes and made a noise of derision.

“You see, I’ve actually spoken to Lamak,” said Cyd, scratching at the pitted scars on his cheek with a gloved finger, “he thinks you’re going to make him sick.”

The world seemed to echo a bit when Kass heard that. He fought the lightheadedness that accompanied the sensation; he’d be damned if he was going to faint in front of Cyd.

“How would I make him sick?” Kass muttered numbly.

“Well, he has this idea that Rito carry an illness that kills half of all Hylians who get it...at least that’s what he told me would happen if I kept talking to you.”

“Where would he get such an idea?” Kass asked, his hands involuntarily balled into fists.

“He says the illness killed his mother and his sister.”

Kass swallowed hard.

“I’ve lived among Hylians for years and there’s never been an incident,” Kass said, trying to be dismissive.

Kass did not mention how ill he had been when Olin had found him—how he had sweated through the worst of it, his tiny muscles aching with the smallest of movements. Olin had told him that it was the kind of thing you only got once in your life. He desperately wished he could speak to Olin right now.

“Kass,” said Cyd, grabbing him by the collar and leaning in too close, the stench of alcohol on his breath, “Lamak is not your friend. Watch your back.”

“And are you my friend?” Kass asked, pulling away.

“Well I’m not going to kill you in your sleep.”

“How about when I’m awake?”

“Doubt it,” said Cyd, taking a swig of his bitter spirits.

oOo

The journey north was slow going; the road to the new stable was mostly overgrown from years of disuse and the additional guards needed for the covered wagons of supplies ensured they lumbered along at a snail’s pace. The location had been chosen for its tall timber and historical significance. The new stable was to be set up near a large western exchange that had no doubt disappeared in the Calamity.

A few days into their journey, Kass had grown used to scouting ahead and reporting back to Erie, who had half a dozen maps to shuffle between.

“Does it look like any of these, Kass?” she asked, holding open a fragile map of the area from days long past.

Kass looked at the map and pointed at a rock formation that looked at bit like a canine’s teeth.

“This. I’ve seen this up ahead...but we’re still miles away.” 

“No, that’s alright! That’s good! It’s called the Breach of Demise,” Erie said, sketching the outline of the old map onto a blank sheet.

“How uplifting,” deadpanned Cyd.

“I can’t really decide if that’s a good name or a bad name,” said Ruron.

“Kid, if it’s got ‘demise’ in it, you probably want to avoid it,” said Cyd.

“I don’t think we can avoid it,” said Kass.

“Unfortunately, Kass is right,” Erie chimed in, “the surrounding region is far too difficult to traverse. The old road goes right through the Breach of Demise, and—given the nature of the area—it seems likely that the old road will still be intact.”

“Let’s head out,” called Cyd to the convoy, taking the lead on his horse.

Silda pulled her horse up beside Kass’s.

“You still just have that one knife?” she asked in a raspy voice.

Kass nodded. She pressed another in a small leather sheath into Kass’s hand.

“Happy birthday, idiot.”

Kass fastened it to his belt, fear creeping in to displace his relative calm. 

oOo

They travelled another day before reaching the Breach of Demise in mid-afternoon. The pockmarked stone formations echoed strangely as the caravan began their crossing. Early on, one of the wagons suffered a broken wheel. Kass watched as Lamak slid from his horse and crouched down beside it.

“What do we do?” asked the young driver.

“I can’t fix this,” Lamak said, “we don’t have the tools.”

“Nor the time,” Cyd pointed out.

“We’ll have to redistribute the load and leave the wagon behind,” said one of the women from the convoy.

They all pitched in to move the canvas, rope, and supplies to other wagons and onto donkeys and pack-horses. Lamak salvaged the canvas from the frame of the broken wagon with the help of a guard.

Cyd pulled Kass aside as he dropped a roll of canvas into the back of another wagon.

“Go take a peek overhead,” Cyd said, his voice low.

“Why? What am I looking for?”

“I heard something. We need to know what’s ahead.”

Kass sighed and flapped up to perch atop one of the stones that jutted out like a fang. He saw nothing, but gliding between his perch and the next stone Kass thought he could hear whatever it was that Cyd heard echoing through the pass below. He followed the trail for a bit and saw a colony of monsters in the distance. He flew back and landed quietly beside Cyd.

“Well?”

“They’re down the path that forks east. I’m not certain how many or what, because I didn’t want to get close enough to alert them to our presence.”

“The sun’s going down...maybe we can avoid them if we’re quick about it,” Cyd said.

“Did the path north look clear?” Erie asked Kass as Cyd set upon the rest of the convoy to get moving.

“Yes,” aid Kass, “but I wouldn’t want to be stuck here.”

“Agreed.”

By the time they reached the fork in the road, darkness had descended and the shadows from their torches cast sinister shadows on the rough rock walls. Cyd glanced down the path.

“Well, this is exactly where we do not want to set up camp. We need to get some distance,” Cyd told the group.

“Might be too late,” said Ruron, glancing out beyond their circle of light.

Then Kass saw the glowing red pupils. The convoy was surrounded by lizalfos and bokoblins. Kass pulled both knives and put his back to one of the covered wagons, his heart racing. Beside him, Erie pulled a throwing knife and Silda notched an arrow in her bow. The rest of the party was taking similar measures. The creak of wooden bows and scrape of weapons being drawn from their sheaths echoed off the stones.

When the first lizal lunged, everyone sprang into action. The scene was chaos and Kass was caught in a brawl with a squalling bokoblin. He tried over and over to stab it with either of his knives but the creature fought him like a wild animal. Teeth and nails tore at his clothes and body and Kass screeched as sharp teeth bit into his chest and took shreds of his flesh with it. 

The disgust of seeing the bokoblin’s mouth full of bloody blue and yellow feathers did away with any hesitation Kass had about fighting. He drove his Sheikah blade through the yellow eye and lashed out at another bokoblin that swarmed him, cutting so deeply into its throat that it could not squeal its own death. The chaos around them had resulted in monster bits everywhere. He could hear bokoblins squalling as they met their ends.

Kass felt unsteady after the momentary rush as he stood among the carnage. Erie approached him as she collected her knife from a pile of viscera, her expression concerned. Kass glanced down at his chest and felt his knees shaking.

“Oh Kass,” said Erie, catching him under the wing as he crumpled back to the ground, “that’s a lot of blood.”

Silda—scavenging the weapons and remains from the fight—handed Erie a wad of cloth. Erie pulled aside Kass’s open tunic and sucked in her breath in a sympathetic wince. Kass tried to follow her gaze but she caught his beak and made him lift his head.

“Don’t do that,” she said, “I want you to just look at what’s happening over my shoulder.”

“Nothing’s happening over your shoulder,” he protested, a little fuzzy on the purpose of this exercise.

He could feel Erie’s hands shaking as she pressed the cloth against the wound. Kass made a pained noise, and Erie whispered platitudes to comfort him as she held the makeshift dressing firmly against his chest.

“Just leave him. We can’t defend this spot. We need to move,” came Lamak’s voice.

Kass sucked in his breath...these Hylians were not his friends...

“Fuck off, Lamak,” said Cyd, striding over to Kass and Erie.

Kass watched the two Hylians exchange a silent communicative look, and Kass wondered if they were weighing the possibility of leaving him.

“Get up, Kass,” said Cyd.

Kass just stared at Cyd unable to form words let alone get to his feet.

“Lamak is watching, don’t make me pick you up,” growled Cyd.

Kass stood, Erie still holding his wing and applying pressure to his chest. 

“Here, get in the wagon,” she directed him.

She hopped into wagon behind him. As he settled himself, she took his hand and pressed it over the cloth.

“Stay here. Keep pressure on that. For Hylia’s sake don’t go to sleep,” Erie said, shifting a burlap sack of oats so Kass could rest against the wagon’s frame.

She leapt out of the back and Kass tried hard to do as she asked as the wagon began rolling. At one point Silda dropped the bloody Sheikah blade into the wagon beside him.

“You left this in someone. This is a good blade; you should be more careful,” she told him.

“Am I dying?” Kass asked her.

She shrugged.

“What does that mean...oh Goddess, can you deliver a letter for me?”

“You’re not dying,” she said irately.

“You’re a terrible person.”

“Erie says I’m a delight,” Silda said, her expression never changing.

Once they had made it through the Breach of Demise, they circled the wagons just off the road near a rock that burst upward from the green grass. The convoy settled into its usual groups, some tending wounds. Kass wondered if anyone had been lost as Erie urged him to sit on the damp grass.

Cyd built a fire nearby while Erie saw to Kass’s wound. Silda was cleaning a flat dagger near the fire. Ruron and Lamak had found company with others from the convoy as they usually did.

“This is quite deep,” Erie sighed, carefully pulling the makeshift dressing away.

Kass looked at the rows of teeth marks gouged into his chest and grimaced.

“Don’t do that,” she said, “Cyd?”

Grumbling, Cyd passed Erie his skin of spirits. Erie uncapped it.

“Do you want some to drink?” she asked Kass.

“That might prove fatal,” Kass said.

She nodded and poured a little over the wound. Kass shrieked, the pain making him suddenly and sharply alert. The convoy stared at his sudden inhuman noise.

“Must you?” he asked, panting.

“A bite from a bokoblin will fester if left unattended,” she said.

“That needs stitching,” Cyd said, moving to sit with them.

“We don’t have thread,” said Erie.

“I have a fix,” came Silda’s gravelly voice.

She pulled the flat dagger, hot from the fire. 

“It’s almost like you were expecting this,” Cyd drawled.

Erie gave Kass an apologetic look and held onto his wing, stroking his feathers in a way she must have thought was reassuring. Cyd grabbed his other hand and gripped his shoulder to keep him still.

“No no no no no I’ll take the spirits,” protested Kass, squeezing Cyd so tightly his hand hurt.

“The spirits aren’t going to stop the bleeding,” Cyd said.

“I’m very good,” insisted Silda.

“It’s true. She did her own,” said Erie.

Kass nodded and closed his eyes, gritting his beak to keep himself from whimpering as Cyd and Erie encouraged him to lie back in the damp grass. The initial contact of the heat hurt so much Kass could not even scream as the smell of burning flesh and feathers reached his nostrils. Cyd and Erie held him still through the procedure and he held onto them much harder than he would ever admit to. When Silda pulled away Kass lay panting, his breath catching in is throat.

“You did well,” said Cyd, splashing the cool spirits over Kass’s chest.

“It’s over?” Kass rasped, the pain searing around the edges of the cauterized flesh.

“I’m done,” said Silda, “don’t get bit again.”

She dropped the dagger near the fire and stalked off. Erie stroked Kass’s wing once more and followed her. Cyd sat back against a tree in Kass’s eye line. Kass closed his eyes and sighed. The whole ordeal had made him once more reconsider why he signed up for this expedition. He felt something land in his lap and opened his eyes to see his bedroll.

“That yours?” Cyd asked.

Kass nodded but made no move to unroll it. Instead he lay back in the grass and closed his eyes again.

oOo

Kass could not fly following his injury; the cauterization had left a damaged bald patch on his chest that curiously both hurt immensely and was completely numb in places. Cyd complained about having scout ahead with Silda. Silda didn’t exactly complain but she had become more combative with the people around her. Neither of them was as bad as Lamak who blamed Kass’s inexperience for their slow pace. The tension in the scouting group was intolerable to Kass. 

“You were the one who wanted to leave him,” Ruron said, growing tired of Lamak’s complaints.

“Lamak,” warned Cyd as he returned to look at Erie’s maps, “I don’t want to hear your voice.”

“Are you threatening me, Cyd?”

“Nope. Just stating my preferences.”

“Good...because you don’t want to threaten me.”

“Both of you shut up before I cut off your manly bits and feed them to the wolves,” growled Silda.

Kass sat atop his horse, the blanket from his bedroll around his shoulders against the cool northern temperatures—at least, that was what he had been telling everyone. He had awoken that morning with a fever and terrible muscle aches. Fearing that Lamak’s campaign against him had caught on with some of the convoy, Kass suppressed his chills and kept whatever was ailing him secret.

He could see Erie growing frustrated with Cyd, who could not compare the map to what he had seen at ground level. Kass worried that this delay could cause further discontent in the convoy and that it might be directed at him. He slid from his horse and stood next to Erie and Cyd.

“Erie, just tell me which way to go,” he said.

“You’re still injured,” said Erie.

“I’m here for a reason and this is it,” said Kass, “I just need to get a little height to to take off.”

“West, maybe a little north-west,” said Erie.

Kass nodded his acknowledgement and started up the stony hill, Cyd following closely behind him.

“Hey,” Cyd said, “why are you doing this?”

“It’s my job.”

“Are you going to fly with that blanket?”

Kass handed it to him along with his cloak.

“You’re sick,” Cyd said.

“I’m fine,” said Kass, stubbornly putting one foot in front of the other.

“No you’re not. You’re sick from the bite.”

“Don’t say anything,” Kass begged him, relieved that he now knew the cause of his ailment.

“It happens to almost everyone who gets bit, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed,” said Kass, spreading his wings atop the rock to get a feel for the breeze.

The wound on his chest throbbed, but Kass kept his expression neutral.

“Well, you don’t have to prove anything, we can figure out the map thing.”

“Cyd, don’t be nice, it doesn’t suit you,” Kass deadpanned.

“Go sleep this off,” insisted Cyd.

“I can’t. Lamak has been telling everyone we meet that Rito are the disease carriers of Hyrule,” Kass hissed, “if I look ill...I don’t know what they might do to me.”

“The fever’s making you paranoid,” scoffed Cyd.

“I wish I was just being paranoid. Don’t say anything, not even to Erie and Silda. If this goes bad I don’t want anyone else involved.”

Cyd made a dismissive noise.

“Just promise.”

“Fine. I won’t say anything.”

Kass stepped out onto the edge of the rock and spread his wings, the cauterized patch on his breast pulling painfully and he prepared to take off. Pushing off from the rock he flapped a few times to gain altitude and glided down the rocky slope. From his vantage point, Kass could hardly believe that Cyd and Silda had missed the ruins that must be Maritta Exchange. He circled and located the road and scanned for monsters and predatory animals.

As the pain from his wound grew, Kass headed back and landed where Cyd waited on the rocks. Cyd handed him back his blanket and cloak. Kass carried the outerwear back to the convoy, uncomfortably warm but nearly vibrating with shivers from his flight. He ignored the concerned glance which Cyd cast him. He felt conflicted that the man who had once raged at him for not having cider to serve was now his closest ally.

“We’re nearly there,” Kass pointed out their location on the map.

The scouting group looked relieved by Kass’s affirmation. 

“And this is where they plan to build,” said Erie pointing to a circle on the map, “we can make it by nightfall.”

Erie called to the group and the wagons began rolling once more. They made good time; the road was overgrown with grass, but it remained fairly flat and compact. Cyd rode silently beside Kass the entire way. His eyes were narrowed at Lamak who kept shooting suspicious glances in Kass’s direction.

“Do you believe me now?” Kass asked in a low voice.

“That asshole’s always glaring at you,” said Cyd, but his expression was not as dismissive as his tone.

Shortly before nightfall they arrived at a grove of spruce trees that had taken hold in the area. Kass was grateful that they would not be travelling again before the stable was built.

Kass slid from his horse, but found his unsteady legs could not hold him. Cyd dismounted and stood beside him, glancing cautiously over at Lamak who was busy unfurling the plans for the stable and talking to three woodcutters about clearing the area. Erie was showing Lamak the spot on the map and he was nodding his agreement.

“You’ve gotten worse,” Cyd said in a low voice.

“I don’t know what to do,” Kass admitted, pulling the blanket more tightly around himself.

“Get out from under your horse or you won’t have to worry about it,” said Cyd, pulling him up by his wing. 

Cyd hitched their horses to the back railing of a wagon and collected their supplies. Grabbing Kass by the wing, he fairly dragged him to the edge of the woods where Lamak would not have a direct line of sight. Kass sat back against a tree, wrapped in his blanket. He shivered miserably and wished he was in Olin’s warm cottage; he almost felt ashamed that that was the most comfortable place he could think of. 

Cyd cut back the grass and weeds and made a circle of stones for a small fire. Silda joined them, a dark expression on her face. She glanced at Kass and sat down near the smouldering little fire.

“I want to search the ruins south of here tomorrow,” she said to Cyd pointedly. “We’ll take Kass with us.”

“If he’s in any fit state...”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Kass shivered.

“Erie will want to map the ruins,” said Silda, ignoring Kass, “and Lamak is required to stay behind and supervise the building of the stable.”

Cyd glanced at Kass and nodded his understanding. For all of her silence, Silda was far more observant than anyone gave her credit for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was considering the motivations of monsters for a while before I wrote this chapter and I needed something to make them feel like a credible threat and to make their motivations for attacking people more concrete and less chaotic. I came up with hunger, fear, and defending territory and was pretty repulsed by the idea of monsters eating people...so I went with it. 
> 
> Looking forward: things are going to get a little darker for a couple of chapters. We're not staying with the OCs for too long, so if they're not your jam there are many chapters of canonical characters ahead.


	10. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bokoblin's bite leaves Kass with a fever; Lamak's paranoia galvanizes his desire for action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be beautiful happy(ish) times in future chapters...this is not one of those chapters.

Silda and Cyd cleared the moblins and bokoblins from the ruin of the Maritta Exchange while Erie and Kass kept their horses back. Kass leaned nearly double over the front of his saddle, his muscles quivering and his head throbbing. Erie reached out to stroke his wing.

“Why are you doing this?” Kass asked, pulling his blanket tight.

“Aside from you being our best scout?” Erie asked.

Kass groaned.

“You’re our friend. Friends are difficult to find on the road,” she said, still trying to comfort him with a hand on his back.

“I never imagined a Hylian would say such a thing to me.”

“Why ever not?”

“...it’s the fever talking...”

“Come, they’ve cleared the ruin,” said Erie.

Kass settled himself in a corner of the ruin near the fire that Cyd had built with wood from rotted carts and wagons. Silda sat nearby and sorted through weapons and other junk she had found around the complex. She looked up to find Kass staring at her.

“You’re supposed to rest,” she said.

Kass couldn’t deny that he still harboured some fear in his heart; he had known these Hylians for just over a moon’s turn and he could not understand why they were going out of their way for him.

“Boko bit me once,” Silda said, pulling aside her collar to show Kass a shiny, pinkish scar on her shoulder—no doubt the one that she had cauterized herself.

“We match,” said Kass, though his own scar was still mottled and red.

“I would have died from the fever if not for Erie,” said Silda, “you must recover your strength before the rest of the convoy becomes suspicious.”

“Why are you putting yourself at risk for me?”

“The greater risk is to not have you.”

“As a navigator?”

“I can’t read or write, but Erie tells me that in the recorded history of Hyrule our strength has been our ability to work together with other peoples. Why Lamak can’t see...”

Silda trailed off. Kass was surprised about the depth of her philosophy on the matter.

“What?” asked Kass.

“Rest,” she insisted.

They spent the night and following day in the ruins. Kass rested and tried to recover his strength. Erie sketched and mapped the surrounding area. Silda scavenged what she could from the ruins and ran down monsters with her horse. Cyd...mostly drank. 

On the second evening Kass was roused from his feverish sleep by the sound of galloping hooves. Ruron arrived at their camp, his horse lathered in sweat and foaming at the bit. He nearly fell from his mount as he dismounted and stumbled to the fire.

“Lamak...he’s coming,” he panted.

“What?” said Cyd.

“With...woodcutters,” Ruron coughed as he slumped against the wall beside Kass.

“Where do we go?” Silda asked Erie, fastening her weapons belt.

“It’s too late,” said Cyd, drawing his sword.

Lamak arrived on horseback with three woodcutters who were armed with axes. Silda drew her broadsword and stepped between Lamak and Kass. Erie and Cyd joined her.

“Step aside,” said Lamak. “You know what needs to be done.”

“Nothing needs to be done,” said Cyd.

Lamak dismounted and drew his sword.

“Stop,” said Erie implored everyone, “this doesn’t need to end in bloodshed.”

Unable to let his companions risk themselves on his behalf, Kass compelled himself to stand and face Lamak. His whole body shook, but he let his blanket slide off his shoulders to the ground.

“Is this how it is, Lamak?” he asked, his voice much steadier than he felt, “you hear some things when you’re a kid and you get to keep that hate in your heart and kill me at the edge of the world for something outside of my control?”

“You think I don’t know you, Kass? I’ve even heard your name before. You played with my sister on the beach, even after our parents warned her not to go near you filthy birds.”

“I’m not a bird any more than a Hylian is an ape,” Kass ground out, though his heart constricted painfully to remember the childhood days he spent on the beach in ignorance of what the Hylian villagers were capable of.

“Your kind killed my baby sister with your disease,” Lamak said, “and then my mother. And now here you are, about to wipe out everyone here.”

“Goddess fuck, he’s not contagious, you fool!” Cyd shouted.

“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” said Lamak, drawing his short sword.

“One more step and you will be sorry,” Silda growled.

“Oh come on. You’re really going to side with the bird?”

“You know damn well that this is because he was bitten by a bokoblin! Now go and do the job you were hired for and quit spewing your filth!” Cyd spat.

Lamak looked at Cyd and Silda and seemed to decide the altercation was not worth risking injury. He cast a glance at Kass that seemed to suggest this was in no way the end. He spat at Erie’s feet and rode away with his woodcutters.

Silda put an arm around Erie who was visibly shaken. Cyd sheathed his sword. Kass sank back to the ground and leaned against the stone wall, his head spinning from the effort.

“I think I may have to stay here now,” said said Ruron, pushing his sweaty hair off of his face.

“None of us can stay here now,” said Cyd.

“My contract says I’m supposed to remain at the stable as a guard,” said Ruron.

“You have to make your own decision,” said Erie, rolling her maps and placing them in their cylindrical leather case.

“I doubt that Lamak will kill you. If he’s got everyone worried about catching something from Kass then that will be resolved when we leave,” said Cyd.

Ruron chewed his lip, debating the merits of his contract.

“Ruron, it’s a good job, and Lamak will be gone once the stable is built,” said Kass, “don’t pass it up on my account.”

Ruron sighed.

“My Pa always wanted something better for me,” he said.

“This is it, kid,” said Cyd, “you get three squares, a roof over your head, and a bed to sleep in. You get really lucky and maybe the manager has a daughter who can stand your face.”

“What’s wrong with my face?” asked Ruron self-consciously.

“Nothing, Ruron. What are you going to do?” said Erie.

“I’m going back,” sighed Ruron, “I hate being on the road.”

“Good choice, kid,” said Cyd, clapping him on the shoulder.

Ruron led his horse by the reins.

“If you ever come back here,” he said, “I’ll welcome you.”

“That’s nice of you,” said Erie sincerely.

As Ruron disappeared into the darkness, Cyd, Silda, and Erie finished packing the horses. Cyd crouched beside Kass.

“Can you ride?” he asked.

Kass nodded, though he doubted he could even stand he was shaking so badly. Silda and Cyd didn’t wait for him to agree, just pulled him to his feet and helped him onto his horse. Silda threw his blanket around his shoulders and took his reins as she mounted her own horse. Cyd put out the fire and the darkness enveloped them.

“Can you even see the path?” Cyd grumbled, riding close to Kass who slumped in his saddle.

“Just follow me,” said Erie.

oOo

They decided to return to Outskirt Stable where—along with Lamak—they were meant to receive their orders for the next stable. The ride was harrowing for Kass, who could no longer stay atop his horse when his muscles began to spasm. They took shelter in the remains of a stone building that stood alone not far from Jeddo Bridge.

That afternoon, a storm struck and the four huddled inside. Though they were sheltered by part of the remaining second floor and three walls, Kass could not stand the dampness of the air. His muscles cramped and twitched and there was little his companions could do save for sit with him as the fever made him see and hear things he knew could not be real.

“How many days have we been here?” Kass sobbed in frustration, his hands grasping for the blanket Silda had just taken from him.

“It’s only been an afternoon,” Erie said, swiping a cool cloth over his eyes.

“Where did all these people come from?” asked Kass, who swore he was surrounded by more than a dozen Hylians chatting away.

“It’s only us,” Erie told him, “just close your eyes.”

“I can’t be in here,” Cyd suddenly snapped, his voice echoing through Kass’s mind as Cyd stood monstrously over them.

“Cyd, it’s pissing rain,” said Silda.

Kass covered his head trying to block out the sounds of his companions and the twenty other people who seemed to be in the shelter with them. Why was everyone being so loud? The pained noise that escaped him embarrassed him even in his delirium.

“It’s alright, Kass,” Erie reassured him softly, bathing his brow with the cool cloth.

“Silda, if you’re holding out on me...” Cyd threatened.

“I don’t carry it because I don’t drink it,” Silda ground out.

Cyd had run out of drink and subsequently patience, Kass realized. He stormed out of the shelter, scaring the horses as he shouted. Kass winced, the sounds of Cyd’s shouts seemed to surround Kass and reverberate through his head along with the horses whinnies which seemed to follow him down into his fitful sleep. Even as Erie comforted him, he was plagued with frightful dreams when he unknowingly dozed off.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” he heard Erie confess to Silda while he lay in a swoon.

_“This is the worst I’ve ever seen.”_

_Kass stood among corpses of Rito, his feet too heavy and clumsy to move. He look up to see Olin’s grim countenance as he waded tall and strong through the unmoving feathered bodies._

_“Teacher,” he tried to call out, but he could not recover his voice._

_“Your turn.”_

Kass awoke with a jolt when he thought he heard Lamak’s voice. Turning his head, he saw that it was just Cyd, talking in his fitful sleep. As he came to, he realized he could finally lay still and the world was no longer full of sound he could not account for and the storm has subsided. He saw a familiar silhouette sitting near the fire.

“Silda,” he rasped.

Silda moved to crouch beside him and felt his skin under his feathers. Her fingertips felt blissfully icy to Kass. He still felt twitchy and unsettled, though his muscles no longer clenched involuntarily. Kass was exhausted, but it was the feeling of having made it through something. He brought a hand up to his chest and rubbed it over his unclothed feathers.

“Where is my tunic?”

“We have it. Erie thought it was too warm,” she said helping him sit and drink water from a skin.

“I’m ready to go,” said Kass, trying weakly to get to his feet.

“Its a few hours ‘til dawn,” said Silda, pressing him back down. “You should rest, it will be a long ride tomorrow.”

Kass lay back and let Silda cover him.

“You needn’t have done this for me,” said Kass.

“Shut up,” said Silda.

Kass huffed a mirthless laugh and closed his eyes.

oOo

Within a couple of weeks they were on the road to Tabantha with another convoy of guards and stable staff. Lamak had not returned to Outskirt Stable and Nikalph had lost patience, worrying that the season for setting up stables might not last. Cyd shrugged off Lamak’s disappearance as evidence that he knew it was a mistake to threaten Kass. Silda darkly suggested he might have fallen prey to bokoblins in the Breach of Demise. Erie didn’t like to speculate.

For all of their assurances, Kass was troubled by dreams where he awoke to find everyone around him dead and Lamak standing over the bodies. When he confided this to Erie she just stroked his wing as she always did when she wanted to make him feel better.

“I don’t think he’s interested in the rest of us,” she said, “what exactly happened in Lurelin?”

Kass said nothing in response. He had never even been able to fully tell Olin or Jerrin what had happened to him so long ago; to say it aloud would be to once again breath life into it. Keeping it to himself kept the inevitable looks of horror and pity (and the wing-stroking) to a minimum. Lamak was just an unwelcome rupture—an uncomfortable reminder that what had happened was real. 

They had nearly reached Tabantha Bridge when the unwelcome reminder reappeared in their midst.

Kass awoke to Erie shaking him and whispering his name.

“Is it my watch?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as he propped himself on one wing.

She pointed to where Lamak was arguing with Cyd by the fire.

“You broke contract!” Lamak shouted, “you were to stay and help set up the stable.”

“Actually, Nikalph thinks you broke contract...I don’t put much stock in the written word myself, but I don’t think there’s anything in the contract that allows for the attempted murder of your fellow navigators.”

Kass’s hand went to his dagger and he sat up, his heart pounding.

“You should hide,” said Erie.

“No,” said Kass, getting to his feet.

“Kass...”

“This isn’t going to end unless I confront him.”

Kass had played out this moment so many times in his mind. It always seemed to end badly. His only hope was that he could diffuse the situation with the grace he had seen Olin use. He prayed his friends would not be hurt if he failed. Erie followed behind him, her voice thin and panicked as she whispered a plea to Hylia.

“Lamak,” called Kass, “let’s put an end to our bitterness and start anew.”

“And how do you propose we do that, bird?”

Kass ignored the slight, trying to take a lesson from Olin and maintain the upper hand through magnanimity.

“I would propose a peaceable solution. We have both lost loved ones. We have both suffered. Why not embrace our similarities and move forward?”

Cyd gave Kass a silent look of warning, the light from the campfire accentuating the scars on his face and sunken eyes.

“How arrogant of you to think that there is a solution that doesn’t end in your death,” spat Lamak.

“Then I’ll leave,” said Kass, “we need never encounter each other again.”

“We are bound together!” Lamak spat, “I cannot escape what your people did to my village, to me! The things I have had to do...”

Kass realized in that moment that Lamak, though not yet grown, had probably been among those who had cut down his tribe. His heart pounding, Kass could not help but imagine what it was to be encouraged to kill at such a young age. This thing that poisoned his life had poisoned Lamak’s as well. Though he was sickened by the thought of Lamak killing his people, all he wanted was for this to end.

“I will offer my forgiveness for whatever it is you’ve done if you put down your weapon,” Kass said, despising the note of desperation that had crept into his voice.

“I don’t want your forgiveness!”

“What more can I offer?”

“One of your kind came to our village a year ago and cut the throat of our leader. Since then, I have sought out your kind.”

“You tracked him?” Erie asked in disgust.

Kass reeled at this new information—there were Rito in the world and Lamak was targeting them. Kass gripped his dagger in its sheath with a shaking hand.

“Don’t be foolish, Lamak,” said Cyd “you’re outnumbered.”

Lamak seemed to realize this and looked as though he were about to give up. He threw down his sword.

“I’m not going out alone.”

Lamak pulled his dagger and lunged at Kass knocking him to the ground. Kass threw up his wings instinctively and as Lamak landed on him and struggled to avoid Lamak’s weapon. Still in hand, Kass’s blade found Lamak’s throat when he shoved the man away from him. Kass drew back in horror, but it was too late; blood from the wound spilled over Kass’s clothes. Lamak rolled onto his back with a wheeze, trying to hold in the precious blood which flowed from his jugular. Kass scrambled backwards—away from Lamak—the Sheikah dagger falling from his nerveless hand.

“I’m sorry,” Kass whispered, sickened by what had transpired by his hand.

Lamak spat at Kass with his last breath then lay still. Looking up, Kass saw Erie had covered her face in disbelief, her eyes glistening with building tears. Silda had awakened during the conflict and she sheathed her own dagger with an inscrutable expression. Cyd pulled Kass to his feet, wrapping a hand around the back of Kass’s neck to force him to look him in the eye.

“Kass. He left you no choice,” said Cyd.

Kass gripped Cyd’s shoulder, rolling the fabric of his tunic in his hand. Kass could feel the tears of distress pricking his eyes as he realized all things stemming from that terrible night had corrupted his life.

“It was an accident,” Cyd said.

Kass inhaled shallowly and looked around at the horrified faces of his new friends. Lamak had ensured that this had been corrupted too. Cyd was scrambling to absolve him of guilt, though Cyd looked as upset as Kass had ever seen him. Silda was remarkably calm. She stood expressionlessly over Lamak and considered the body. Erie was still frozen, her tears spilling in huge droplets down her face and hands. For just a moment, Kass had begun to think he had found a place of his own where he could belong.

He shrugged off Cyd’s grip regretfully as he turned to take in Lamak’s body one last time.

“I’m going now,” Kass said, his own voice unfamiliar to him as he made for his horse.


	11. Regression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Impa arrives with a message for Olin to make haste to Hateno.

Olin arrived in Kakariko Village one late summer’s day after his usual seasonal travels. The village remained very much has it had been for most of the last fifty or so years. His cottage was empty—save for his books—and the villagers went about their lives unbothered by the world outside. He wondered perhaps if he should retire from this lifestyle soon, as he was not so fit as he had been even a year ago. 

As he began to unpack in the solitude of his cottage, Impa arrived at his at his door.

“Lady Impa,” he said, surprised that she had not sent someone in her stead. 

“I’ve received word from my sister,” Impa told him without preamble.

“Oh?”

“Your former ward appeared at her laboratory about a week ago. He was covered in blood and apparently unable or unwilling to speak.”

Of course Kass would go to Hateno—and Jerrin—if he thought that Olin would be travelling, he realized. 

“Was he injured?” asked Olin.

“Not badly. She is concerned...and it seems she would rather appreciate if you would bring him home.”

No doubt Impa was putting Purah’s wishes politely; Purah would be anxious to have Kass gone if she felt her work was being disrupted.

“I’ll go at once,” said Olin, gathering the supplies which he had scarcely unpacked.

“If you would...please escort Jerrin home as well,” Impa requested, “Purah believes that she should spend a few years with Robbie to complete her education.”

“Yes, of course,” Olin agreed.

Olin made haste as he had not in many years. He arrived at Duelling Peaks Stable just after dark and set out again before dawn. He had received a letter from Kass early in the summer explaining that he would be joining an expedition to set up stables in the west. The prospect had worried Olin terribly, but he had long ago conceded that Kass was an adult and free to make his own decisions. Now, Olin wished that he had pressed Kass into travelling with him instead.

Olin arrived at the village gates late in the day. He greeted the guard briefly as he rode his horse through the village to the top of the hill where the Ancient Tech Lab sat, chimney smoking serenely. He opened the door without knocking to see Purah’s agitated countenance.

“You certainly took your time,” Purah said.

“Where is he?”

“Jerrin convinced him to go with her to gather mushrooms in Retsam Forest.”

“Thank you.”

“Be careful on the hill, you aren’t a young man anymore.”

Olin did not even argue with Purah about his age. He headed down and around the pasture and found Jerrin along the pond’s bank with her mushroom basket in hand. She saw him and ran to meet him, reaching out for his hand.

“I’m glad you’ve come,” she said quietly, gripping his hand tightly, “I’m so worried about him; he won’t say anything. I don’t know what’s happened.”

“It’s alright, Jerrin,” said Olin, patting her her shoulder as he walked past her.

He spotted Kass sitting beneath a tree watching the water expressionlessly. Olin covered the distance to Kass in his usual long strides.

“Kass,” he said, approaching him.

Kass looked up at Olin and the vacant look on Kass’s face dissolved into distress. Kass covered his beak with both hands. Olin wrapped his arms around Kass and the Rito pressed his face into Olin’s clothes shaking with silent sobs. Olin glanced back at Jerrin, whose expression suggested that this was a new development.

“My boy, I’m here now,” said Olin, stroking Kass’s cheek as he clung to him.

“Please, can I go home?” Kass whispered.

“We’ll go at first light,” promised Olin, “where have you been staying?”

But Kass was finished talking. Olin looked to Jerrin.

“I hung his hammock in my room,” said Jerrin.

She glanced at Kass as though there was something else she wanted to tell Olin, but thought better of it. 

After Kass’s cathartic episode, Olin had little trouble convincing him to rest for the night. While the last rays of sun disappeared in the horizon, they headed back to the lab. As they ascended the hill, Olin held onto Kass’s wing as much for his own balance as to encourage the Rito onward. 

When they reached Jerrin’s quarters, Kass mechanically placed his tunic on a chair and laid down in his hammock. Olin caught sight of a mottled, reddish-pink bald patch on Kass’s breast.

“That looks like it was painful,” said Olin.

Kass just closed his eyes.

“Do you want me to stay?” asked Olin, hanging Kass’s discarded tunic over the back of the wooden chair.

Kass shook his head and stared at the ceiling. Olin ached with worry over Kass’s condition. He did not know if he could pull him out of this silence for a second time. He reached into the hammock and held Kass’s wing, absently stroking his feathers.

“You have been as a son to me,” said Olin, “whatever is ailing you, I will not cast you out.”

Kass covered his eyes with his free wing. Olin smoothed Kass’s blanket as he had so many times before when Kass was distressed. Though fully grown, in this fragile state Olin could still see in him the downy child who had transformed his life so entirely.

When Kass seemed settled, Olin left Jerrin’s quarters. He stood on the winding stairs in the cool night air for a moment. He had missed Kass more than he had even realized, but to find him in such a traumatized state weighed on Olin. Though Kass had grown to adulthood long ago, Olin worried that his mind had not yet caught up with his body.

Olin returned to the laboratory. He sat and accepted the tea which Jerrin offered him. Purah sat drinking hers at the cluttered table in in the centre of the room.

“Would someone please tell me what happened?” Olin asked.

“He just showed up in bloodstained clothes,” said Jerrin. “He didn’t say anything, I couldn’t get him to tell me anything. I thought the best I could do was make sure he had a safe place to sleep and heal his wounds...”

“You did the right thing, Jerrin. Sadly, this behaviour is not unusual for Kass if something has happened to him,” he said.

“He’s not speaking,” she said, “but he screams in his sleep. Every night he begs for forgiveness...I don’t know what happened to him.”

“For my sake you must take him, Olin!” said Purah emphatically.

“Ah, your legendary generosity of spirit is showing,” said Olin darkly.

“I don’t have to be generous. All I have to do I bestow my knowledge upon the next generation and try to make my Sheikah Slate work.”

Olin exhaled derisively and Purah rose.

“I’m going to bed. I’ll share if you’re polite,” she said, leaving the lab.

If Olin was surprised by Purah’s improper offer it was nothing compared to Jerrin’s surprise. Her eyebrows had disappeared up under her fringe as she stared at Olin. With a sigh of irritation, Olin crossed the room and pulled open the door.

“You have a guest in your room, too,” Olin said condescendingly to Jerrin.

“I didn’t say anything,” she protested.

“Well...goodnight,” Olin said, a little flustered by the absurdity of the scenario.

Olin pulled the door shut behind him and took the stairs up into the cold night air to Purah’s chamber. 

“I didn’t think you’d be so eager,” she said as Olin pushed open the door at the top of the stairs, her face split with a malicious delight. 

“Purah...”

“No really, I asked Kass to bring me an ancient screw and here you are.”

“You know you’re not exactly my type,” Olin said.

“And you’re hardly mine, but there is something that we can’t discuss in front of Jerrin.”

“Right. Of course. Better that she imagines our wrinkly bodies entwined in passion than be politely asked to leave,” said Olin sardonically.

“Now you’re being appalling.”

“What is it that you so badly need to tell me?”

“She may not have understood what Kass was screaming about, but our Jerrin likes to see the best in people. I’m worried she might be a little obtuse if I’m being perfectly honest, but I digress. Your Rito killed someone.”

“How can you be sure?” asked Olin.

“Well, you cuddle up with me for the night and you tell me what you hear from downstairs,” said Purah.

Olin considered his options—his coffers were not exactly overflowing at the moment, and if he stayed at the inn he would not be near Kass if something should transpire. He sat down in a chair to remove his boots and Purah clasped her hands together wickedly.

“You mind your hands don’t wander,” Olin said, reluctantly joining Purah beneath her covers.

“I will be a model of propriety,” she said.

“What is it you’ve heard, then?” Olin asked, staring up at the ceiling, his arms crossed. 

“A name. Lamak.”

“This name means nothing to me.”

“He begs his forgiveness sometimes. Says he didn’t mean to.”

“Why do you think he killed this man? You’re a researcher, this isn’t evidence,” said Olin.

“It’s a hypothesis. You can go ahead and test it.”

“We’ll see.”

“I know what it is to be haunted by shades from the past,” said Purah.

“You know I’m not going to believe this until I hear it from him.”

“He’s not talking.”

“He needs time.”

“Have you never killed someone?”

Olin glanced sideways at Purah. He didn’t answer those kinds of questions.

“I miscalculated,” said Purah, “my failure to spot the inherent flaws in the Ancient Technology we were utilizing meant that I bear some of the responsibility for thousands of deaths.”

“I don’t think that’s quite the same,” said Olin, trying to keep the annoyance out if his voice as Purah once again made herself the focus of the conversation.

“It’s a heavy burden nonetheless.”

“You weren’t to know.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

oOo

Whatever Purah had been hoping Kass might say to incriminate himself never came. Olin awoke feeling rather foolish in Purah’s bed the next morning. He immediately got up—his joints aching from the uncomfortable sleep—and pulled on his boots and overshirt.

“Well that was anticlimactic,” said Purah.

“I’m leaving, Purah.”

“Wait,” she said, pulling on her dressing gown and dragging a leather case from under her desk.

“What’s this?”

“Tassin passed last month,” she said. “His daughter-in-law said that this was meant for Kass.”

Olin realized what it was as soon as he lifted the case.

“He barely knew Kass. Why would he leave this to him?”

“I don’t really know. I’m just the messenger.”

“Why have you held it so long?” asked Olin.

“This lab is expensive to run, I need supplies, rupees, ancient tech,” she hinted.

Olin raised his his eyebrows as Purah looked at him expectantly. He felt rather manipulated, but that feeling was not unusual when he dealt with Purah.

“Were you going to hold it hostage for payment?” Olin complained, “you’re irredeemable.”

“I asked Kass to bring me back some ancient parts, which he did not. I would have happily given it to him in equitable exchange.”

“It’s his inheritance.”

“Which I have kept safe these long months.”

Olin looked in his purse. Scowling, he paid Purah and took the case.

“Cost of doing business,” she said.

“I sincerely hope that you and I have no further dealings for quite a long time.”

Irate, Olin left Purah’s quarters took the stairs down to Jerrin’s and knocked upon her door.

“Jerrin, if you aren’t ready to leave you must find your own way back,” he called through the door; Olin was not going to spend one moment longer in Purah’s presence.

Jerrin opened the door. She was dressed to travel with her pack in her hand. She looked sad to be leaving her mentor, but Olin had about all of Purah’s selfishness that he could endure. Olin found Kass looking out over the cliff at the snow covered peaks of the Lanayru range.

“Kass, we’re going.”

The solemn eyes that stared back at Olin chilled him a little. If Purah was right, this was eating Kass alive.

oOo

Kass had returned to the safety of Olin’s cottage. He had not been back since that fateful day when he had set out to prove that he was no longer a child and seek his fortune. Hanging his hammock, he wished he had never left the village; perhaps then the place would not feel so small and full of memories of old pain. That nostalgic pain seemed only to heighten the guilt he felt in the present.

It was right that he had left his friends behind; he was no longer fit to be in their company after his actions. He wasn’t even sure he was fit to be here, but he could not think of any where else he could hide away.

“Kass,” said Olin, placing a case on the table.

Kass sat down across from Olin. Olin pushed the case across the table and Kass opened it. Inside rested an accordion.

“It seems that Tassin left this to you on his death.”

Kass covered his face, fearing he was at risk of breaking down. Surely he did not deserve Tassin’s most beloved possession...not after what he had done. Olin moved to stand beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

“I know that silence is how you address your pain,” said Olin, “and I will wait until you can tell me what will help you. Until then...you have this instrument.”

Day after day, Kass spent his energy learning the accordion. He taught himself the notes and tried to work out that song that Tassin had played him so long ago. The task gave him something to focus on while his mind worked through the guilt and replayed that horrible moment when warm blood soaked through his tunic. The music distracted him as he thought about the poison that seemed to infect every corner of his life.

After a few months, Jerrin’s occasional visits grew infrequent and stopped. No one had said why, but it seemed to Kass that she could no longer stand the silence. At first Kass missed her company, but it felt wrong to him that she could care for someone who had committed such a terrible deed. This was just another part of his life lost to those acts of hatred from long ago.

Olin, for his part, gave Kass as much space to work out the conflict as he could. He left the cottage often to read in Impa’s library. When Olin would return to the cottage, Kass would sit in the garden and play his accordion until the day it began to snow. 

By then, silence had become a habit Kass was unwilling to break no matter how many times Olin asked him what he needed. Kass thought what he might really need was for Olin to condemn him for his terrible deeds. Kass began to question how much of the dagger that he had cut Lamak’s throat with had really been an accident; he had, after all, not dropped it when Lamak lunged at him.

One night in the dead of winter, Kass awoke from a dream of the fishing village. It was not one of the harrowing dreams where he could not escape the piles of bodies, nor one where the Hylians chased him down. Instead, there was sun, sand, and waves. A Rito with green and yellow feathers beckoned for him to come down the path. What was down the path Kass could not say, because it was as he began to follow the Rito that he awoke. He sat bolt upright and slid out of his hammock.

“Kass?” Olin asked, hearing him rummaging through his meagre possessions.

“I have to go,” he said, packing in feverish haste and breaking his silence.

Olin pulled himself from his bed and came to Kass’s side. The dim light of the embers in the hearth barely illuminated Olin’s silhouette.

“Go where?”

“Lurelin.”

“The roads are frozen from here to the grasslands.”

“I need to know what happened to them,” Kass said.

“Who?”

“The Rito who killed their leader.”

“Kass, stop,” said Olin, taking the rolled blanket from his hands.

Kass looked up, fixing his stare upon Olin. There was another death of a traveller from Lurelin that had never been resolved.

“Did you kill Thon?” he asked his teacher.

“Who?”

“You know who, you must know! You never forget anyone!” Kass rambled.

“Please, be calm.”

“I can’t, I need to know! The Hylian who was supposed to run the new stable in Akkala, did you kill him?”

“He fell from his horse,” said Olin.

“People fall from their horses all the time and don’t die!” shouted Kass.

“He was subsequently trampled; it doesn’t bear description,” said Olin, “but that was years ago, why are you asking about it?”

“He was from Lurelin...and you looked at him as though...” Kass could still recall the deadly look that Olin had fixed upon the man as he crossed the stable.

“From what I recall he was not a cruel man,” said Olin, “though he did share his surprise that I travelled with a Rito. Truthfully, I do not know if he participated in the slaughter of your people. I found I could not bear to know.”

Kass nodded, somewhat winded from his outburst.

“I did something terrible,” Kass choked.

“Come sit down,” said Olin, leading Kass over to the table.

Kass told Olin everything. Olin sat patiently through the account, his expression displaying neither shock nor horror at anything Kass told him.

“Did you mean to kill him?” asked Olin.

“I don’t know anymore,” said Kass, “I was defending myself, but I wanted so desperately for it all to end...what if some part of me wanted him dead?”

“Did it?”

“I don’t know. It’s all I can think about—how can I move past all of this?”

“If you wish to go to Lurelin, I will accompany you.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” protested Kass.

“You need never ask,” said Olin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not even a little sorry about the ancient screw joke. The few times I've written Purah and Olin made me desperately want write something pre-Calamity, so I do have something in the works about Purah, Olin, Impa and Robbie...help I can’t stop!
> 
> Also, I know my updates are a little sporadic and this quick update is because I will not be able to post later this week or over the weekend...and it felt wrong to leave you hanging too long after the gravity of the last chapter.


	12. Fly Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After languishing in Kakariko Village for longer than he cares to account for, Kass is given a mission that reignites his desire to be a part of the world beyond the village.

Kass and Olin had planned to travel to Lurelin that spring. That was until Olin grew suddenly ill near the end of winter. Kass remained by his teacher’s side to care for him. Olin pulled through, but remained weak and unwell into the summer. He could no longer walk without a cane and could barely make it across the village on his own. The slow pace of recovery affected Olin’s disposition rather badly and Kass would often spend afternoons in the hills playing his accordion when Olin became crotchety and needed rest.

“This is intolerable,” said Olin, soup spilling from the spoon in his shaking hand.

Kass and Olin sat at the table eating the broth Kass had prepared.

“I can make something else next time,” Kass offered.

Kass loved and respected Olin, but he hardly knew the man who sat across from him anymore. This Olin spent little time writing and so much time resting. His skin had grown papery and his face thin and angular.

“I’m sorry, Kass, the soup is fine. That’s not what I meant,” said Olin.

Kass sighed and lifted his bowl to drink the broth.

“Only a year ago I could bring down a moblin on my own...now I can barely make it to the privy. I arrogantly thought that Purah and Impa and Robbie were somehow lazing about...they’re not so much older than I am after all. But it feels as though I’ve aged a decade in this last year...and I worry that I will not be able to accompany to you to Lurelin.”

“It’s alright,” said Kass, “it was a misguided idea anyway. Judging by my last encounter, the villagers would surely kill me on sight.”

“Don’t waste your life here with me,” said Olin morosely.

“I wouldn’t have a life if not for you,” Kass said firmly.

“All the more reason to go out and live it!”

“I don’t want to go back out there...”

“Why ever not?”

“Every time I do...something terrible happens. I’m safe here, no one tries to hurt me and I don’t hurt anyone else...”

“That’s no way to live,” said Olin.

“That’s how everyone here lives. They read their books, they tend their gardens, they don’t get eaten by monsters, or threatened by...”

The thought set Kass’s heart pounding. Kass put his hand on his chest, breathing shallowly.

“Still doing that I see,” said Olin.

“I’m not doing anything!” Kass snapped, holding his head in his hands as he tried to catch his breath.

“How did you manage these attacks when you worked at the stable?”

“I stopped having them a long time ago,” said Kass, his eyes following the patterns of the wood grain up and down the floor.

“Go get some air, Kass. I’m alright,” insisted Olin.

Kass left the cottage and flapped up to sit by the shrine and collect himself. He wondered if he had truly resigned himself to stop looking for other Rito and live out his life among the Sheikah. He had nearly made it to Tabantha without hearing a whisper about his people. It seemed unlikely that there were any—save for the one who attacked the leader of Lurelin, though it seemed improbable that they were still around.

“Oh, Kass,” came a tone of surprise.

Kass looked up to see Symin emerging from the woods with another young man. Kass couldn’t recall his name but he had caught the two hurriedly stepping away from each other in an effort to look more casual.

“Symin,” said Kass.

“Kass...if you could...” 

“I won’t say anything about...whatever this is,” said Kass.

Symin’s boyfriend retreated down the hill into the village but Symin approached Kass.

“May I sit here?”

“Doubt I could stop you,” said Kass.

“Look, I...I know Jerrin was sent away early because you and she...”

“Don’t believe everything you hear. It was all very chaste,” said Kass bitterly, thinking of those innocent stolen moments when they would bask in each other’s company.

“This thing between me and...well...people wouldn’t approve...”

Symin’s cheeks and ears had grown flushed with embarrassment.

“Symin, it’s your business. I have other things to worry about.”

“This is not what I...I was cruel to you where we were younger.”

“I don’t even remember,” Kass lied.

“Well...I’m sorry. I did it to impress the other boys and...as I reflected on it with age, it felt like a shitty thing to do.”

Symin got up to leave when Kass didn’t respond.

“Thank you...for saying that,” said Kass.

Symin nodded and descended the hill to the village.

oOo

The summer came and went. The breezes which blew through the wooden chimes at the village entrances grew cold with winter and began to warm once more. Kass grew used to the yearly routines in the village. In the spring he planted the garden and patched the thatched roof of Olin’s cottage. In the autumn he harvested pumpkins. He played his accordion on the clifftops and composed his music wherever he felt inspired. He lost track of how many seasons he spent in this sheltered existence.

Olin never seemed to completely recover from his bout of illness, though he had given up his walking stick and could once again make it through the village without losing his breath. To Kass, his teacher began to look old for the first time. For his part, Olin continued to translate verses from ancient Sheikah tomes and to compose his own. Though Olin’s health had improved, Kass was still hesitant to leave him on his own. Olin suggested that Kass was just afraid to leave.

“You’ve hardly left the village in years.”

“We’ve been over this so many times,” sighed Kass, “can’t we just skip to the part where you’re disappointed about how I’m wasting my life and I just carry on with my music...”

“Kass, you have a gift! Don’t hide it in this tiny corner of the world!”

“I went and played at Duelling Peaks Stable...”

“That was two summers ago!”

“Ah...I didn’t realize it was so long...” Kass muttered.

There was a knock upon the door and Kass rose to answer it. He was surprised to see Impa’s young guard, Cado.

“Kass, Lady Impa urgently requests your presence,” he said.

“Mine?” asked Kass, perplexed.

“She says you’re to prepare yourself for an expedition. Please gather your things.”

“You’re not serious,” said Kass.

Cado nodded and shifted his weight expectantly.

“If you want to live in the village so badly, be prepared to serve,” said Olin.

“Did you have something to do with this?” Kass demanded of Olin as he gathered his travelling gear.

“I did not,” said Olin, though Kass thought he seemed rather pleased about the whole thing.

“Do you know what this is about?” Kass asked Cado as they stepped out into the crisp autumn air.

“It isn’t my duty to speculate,” said Cado.

Kass made a dismissive noise as they approached Impa’s residence. Cado held out his hand, politely gesturing that Kass should go first on the stairs. Cado pulled open the door and Kass entered the familiar room.

“Ah, Kass,” said Impa.

“My lady,” said Kass deferentially.

“It seems you might be the only person who can help us right now. Time is of the essence, you see.”

Impa presented Kass with a sealed letter. He took it reluctantly.

“Symin’s mother has fallen ill...and we are expecting the worst. We need you to deliver this letter to him in Hateno and escort him home.”

“Pardon my asking, but why have you requested me for this duty?”

“There is no time to waste. We need you to fly.”

“Fly? I’ve never flown such a distance,” said Kass.

“I have no doubt you are equal to this task,” Impa told him, “Cado will escort you to a suitably tall peak so that you may have an appropriate take off.”

“My Lady—”

“Please Kass,” Symin’s father, his voice full of emotion stepped towards Kass and grasped his wing. “Please bring my son home...he is all my wife asks for.”

Bowing under this emotional extortion, Kass nodded his head. He tucked the letter into a pouch on his belt and headed for the door. Cado followed him at a run as Kass flapped up to the top of the hill and landed beside the shrine.

“Do you have any suggestions?” Kass asked Cado irately as they crossed the bridge over the pond.

“I imagine that tall one would do,” he mumbled.

“Here,” said Kass, handing Cado his cloak as they approached the domed peak, “please return this to Olin. It will just hamper my flight.”

“Is this not second nature to you? Why are you so upset?” asked Cado, draping the cloak over his arm.

“I don’t know...I mean, I don’t know if flying such long distances is a normal thing for Rito. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but growing up among Sheikah has left me with many of your habits. I’ve only ever made this journey on horseback,” for some reason, Kass felt both relieved and angry to be recognizing this.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Why should you?” sighed Kass, “just watch that I don’t plummet to my death and let Olin know I made it out.”

“Yes, of course.”

Kass flapped between plateaus until he reached the top of that rounded pillar. Looking down, he could no longer see Cado for the rocks. He fixed his gaze to the south-east and shuddered against the cool air that blew upon the mountain top. He spread his wings and took a deep breath. He pushed off with his legs, caught the breeze and let it carry him.

Kass remained in the air. He dived down then swooped even higher in the powerful wind. He realized he had never seen the world from such a great height and was struck both by its tranquility and fragility. While he had begun this journey seething at Impa’s presumptuousness for imposing such a task upon him, he found that he was suddenly enjoying himself. The freedom of flight made him feel less monstrous—less like the lone feathered beast in a world of mammals—suddenly, his wings had real purpose.

The shadows lengthened ahead of him as the sun found its resting place in the west. Though the moon rose red that night, Kass felt safe in the sky. Below, the monsters might want to feast upon his flesh, but in the sky he was not even a passing concern. The moon cast an ominous light, but Kass soon saw the trail of blue lanterns flickering in Hateno. As he began to land, the world seemed transformed; as the ground came up to meet him, Kass’s eyes began to pick out individual leaves on trees and blades of grass. 

Kass was elated from the flight as he gently touched down beside Purah’s lab. He wasted no time and knocked on the door. Symin—looking somewhat exhausted if Kass was honest—answered with complete surprise.

“Hi,” he said, his expression one of confusion.

“Who’s there?” Kass heard Purah call from inside the lab.

“Uh...it’s Kass,” Symin told her.

“Kass? The Rito, Kass?” Purah shouted.

“This is for you,” said Kass, handing Symin the letter.

“Symin, quit being useless and invite him in!”

Symin gestured absently at the lab as he considered his letter. Kass sat down at the table across from Purah. She looked spry and inquisitive, unlike the last time Kass had been in this lab.

“Your feathers are all askew. Did you fly here?” asked Purah.

“I did.”

“I need to take leave of you,” blurted Symin suddenly.

“Then I’ll be glad of the peace!”

Symin left the lab abruptly.

“His mother is dying...” Kass said to Purah, astonished by her callousness.

“And I am sorry for that, but as far as assistants go...he’s no Jerrin.”

“Well, I’ll take him off your hands for a while,” said Kass.

“I’m hardly likely to get Jerrin back though...now that she and Robbie have a child.”

If Purah was trying to shock Kass, Olin had long since beaten her to it with news of Jerrin and Robbie’s nuptials and the subsequent birth of their first child. It was hardly a wonder Olin refused to speak to Purah; it seemed that she became more cantankerous every time Kass met her.

“Please excuse me. I’m afraid I’ve only completed half of my assignment,” Kass announced tersely.

Kass left the lab and took the stairs up to the first door on the outside of the whitewashed tower. He knocked and Symin opened the door, his eyes red and his hands shaking. Kass stepped inside at Symin’s vague gesture. The room was regimentally tidy, save for an open rucksack upon Symin’s bed.

“I’m very sorry about your mother,” said Kass.

“Yeah...I don’t really know what I’m doing right now,” said Symin numbly, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

“If you can get yourself together and have a few hours of sleep we can ride out before sunrise. We could probably make it to Kakariko Village before the next morning if we don’t stop.”

“I just don’t know how to...”

“It’s alright,” said Kass, “you just pack. I’ll be down at the inn. I’ll arrange horses and provisions and you can meet me there when you’re ready.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep.”

“You should try to get a little at least. I need a few hours, but you can wake me when you’re ready to leave,” said Kass; the euphoria of the flight had worn off and Kass was absolutely exhausted.

Symin nodded.

Kass left Symin to his packing and descended the hill without bothering to bid Purah farewell. At the inn he was able to arrange horses and provisions. Kass climbed the staircase and did not even remove his belt before flopping onto a bed and falling into a deep slumber.

oOo

A shriek cut through Kass’s sleep. Fearing that the inn was under attack, he leapt from his bed. He was confused to see Symin standing defensively on the staircase between him and a woman he did not recognize.

“What’s going on?” Kass asked groggily.

“How could you let him stay here, where good, decent people stay!” the woman shouted, striking the innkeeper on the shoulder over and over again.

“Symin?” asked Kass.

“The innkeeper’s wife thinks you should leave,” said Symin tensely, “apparently she thinks that a rule needs to be imposed.”

“Ota,” the innkeeper was trying to calm his wife, “we don’t turn anyone away. Kass is a valued customer—”

“How can you say that?” Ota demanded, “how can you say that after what happened to my village?”

“Goddess, I feel sick,” said Symin under his breath.

“Symin, we have places to be,” said Kass, prodding Symin down the stairs ahead of him.

“Good! You get out!” screamed Ota, strands of hair coming from its neat bun in her fury.

“Kass, I’m really so very embarrassed,” said the innkeeper, holding his wife back.

“Are my horses ready?” Kass asked, pointedly ignoring the commotion.

“Yes, they’re out front.”

Kass stepped out into the light rain and checked that their provisions were accounted for before he mounted. Symin followed suit and they set off at a brisk walk.

“Kass!” came a call from behind them just as they were approaching the gate.

Kass was astonished to see Nikalph shouting at him from beneath the overhang at the shop.

“Sorry...” Kass apologized to Symin, turning his horse to address his former boss.

“We need you to come back, we have plans—”

“I can’t help you,” said Kass, “I’m sorry but I’m actually engaged with other things—”

“Don’t be modest, you magnificent son of a bitch! We got two stables up and running in a single summer because of you! Your fellow scouts spoke highly of your contributions to the operation.”

“I left in disgrace,” said Kass, realizing that Nikalph was stumbling around the village, drunk. 

Kass had heard rumours that Nikalph regularly flaunted his powerful position with such detestable behaviour and chastised those who would try to rein him in. He supposed that the rich were wont to do as they willed.

“What’s a little disgrace in the Tabantha Frontier?”

“Look, I really need to—”

“Listen. If you ever want to join another expedition you’re in. No questions.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kass said, though his mind had been made up long ago.

Kass turned his horse, ignoring whatever Nikalph had to say about his return. He gestured to Symin that they ought to get going. They rode along the road in the persistent drizzle, the cold autumn air biting at Kass’s face.

“What was that about?” Symin asked.

“He just wants me to come back to the Stable Association.”

“Not that idiot. In the inn. That woman was shouting such filth.”

“I wouldn’t know,” said Kass opaquely.

“You know I’m older than you are,” said Symin.

“I don’t know how old I am. And what does that have to do with anything?”

“I remember when you arrived at the village,” announced Symin.

“You were a kid, what can you possibly remember?”

“I remember what everyone was saying. What they’d apparently heard from Olin.”

Kass felt chilled to think that his past was an open book to the villagers. It was something he tried so desperately to keep quiet.

“Rumours have gotten you on my bad side before, Symin,” Kass warned.

“Why did that woman call you a parasite?”

“You know, I was actually asleep through part of what she said, so thank you for making me aware of the entirety of her tirade,” Kass responded sarcastically.

“And you just took it.”

“Maybe it’s a part of my penance...” Kass muttered to himself.

“Penance? You are the most obnoxiously considerate person I’ve ever met. You hate me and here you are escorting me home.”

“I don’t hate you,” said Kass.

“Oh...”

“Honestly, I don’t think about you very much at all.”

“That is hurtful in a very special way. Perhaps you ought to lend your material to Purah.”

“Touché,” said Kass.

“I’m...just trying not to think about...you know...” said Symin after a few minutes of silence.

“I know,” said Kass, “let’s just keep moving.”

oOo

It was nearing dark when they reached the road to Kakariko Village. The rain had picked up somewhat, and though Kass’s feathers repelled the water, his clothes were cold and sodden. Symin shivered atop his horse, no doubt soaked to the skin.

“Go on or rest?” Kass asked Symin.

“Onward,” Symin said.

Kass nodded and they led their horses across the Kakariko Bridge to avoid any accidents on the slippery stone. The darkening sky and his own exhaustion made Kass’s eyes play tricks on him and he began to think that rocks were animals and monsters at first glance. He shook his head to try and clear the thoughts.

“Do you hear that?” Symin asked.

Kass followed Symin’s gaze to the edge of the bridge.

“There’s someone there,” Kass said, handing his reins to Symin and placing a hand on his dagger.

Kass approached the end of the bridge. A young man with a shock of white hair leaned back against the outside stone railing of bridge, pressing a hand against his ribs.

“Symin, he’s Sheikah,” Kass called.

Symin approached, his face serious.

“He’s Yiga...Kass, be careful...” said Symin.

Kass crouched down in front of him, keeping a wing’s length between them. The youth looked as though he had been attacked; one eye was swollen shut and dark blood had dried in his hair.

“Are you from the Yiga Clan?” asked Kass.

“I left them,” he said.

“Do you have a name?”

“Are you looking to mark my grave with it?”

“We’re not going to kill you.”

“It’s Dorian.”

“What are you doing here?” Kass asked him.

“I’m...trying to join the Sheikah Clan...I barely escaped the Yiga with my life.”

Kass looked to Symin for advice. Symin just shrugged.

“Why would you join the Sheikah?” Kass asked him

Dorian coughed and held his ribs with a moan. Kass kept his distance.

“We’re going to help you...I just don’t want to end up with a knife in me.”

“Are we?” asked Symin.

“Yes, we are,” said Kass firmly, not looking away from Dorian in an abundance of caution.

“Take my weapons,” said Dorian, unbuckling his weapons’ belt with one hand.

Kass took the sickle and the dagger and handed them to Symin. Symin held the weapons awkwardly, trying to decide what to do with them.

“Kass...a word,” hissed Symin, pulling him aside.

“What?”

“You know who the Yiga Clan are, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t just trust his word.”

“Trust begins with words.”

“You are really frustrating. I hope you know that,” Symin grumbled.

Kass returned to Dorian and reached out his hand. Dorian took it. He pulled him to his feet and put a wing around his back to keep him from falling as he faltered on his injured leg. Kass helped Dorian mount his horse and pulled himself up behind him. Kass put a wing around Dorian’s skinny, shaking frame as he gripped the reins.

“It’ll be alright, Dorian,” he reassured him, “your injuries will soon be seen to.”

Symin gave Kass one more glare as they set off up to the village.

oOo

In the early hours of the morning Olin awoke to someone pounding on his cottage door. He slid to door open to find Kass holding his horse’s lead and blinking away at the raindrops that hit his face. Then Olin saw the figure slumped upon the horse.

“His name’s Dorian,” said Kass, following Olin’s gaze, “he said he’s leaving the Yiga clan.”

“Oh Kass,” sighed Olin.

“He’s badly injured.”

“Take him to the inn. I will summon Oysha to treat him.”

By the time Olin had arrived at the inn with Oysha, Impa had also arrived with an armed guard. Kass sat next to where the Yiga defector shivered on a bed, trying to offer the young man some comfort. Oysha gestured that Kass should move aside so she might treat Dorian. 

“Kass,” said Olin as he approached, “you look exhausted. You ought to rest.”

Kass glanced back at Dorian who flinched mightily as Oysha probed the bruising on his ribs.

“He’s very afraid,” said Kass quietly, “I promised I would stay nearby.”

“Should you wish to leave, Steen will remain to watch over our guest,” Impa said.

Kass nodded, and returned to the foot of Dorian’s bed while Oysha gently wiped away the dried blood from around his swollen eye.

“We ought to have a hot drink,” Impa told Olin pointedly.

Olin nodded and followed her from the inn to her residence. One of her daughters poured them tea as they sat down.

“I have questioned the boy,” said Impa.

“He certainly looks as though he has suffered,” said Olin.

“What I found most curious was the account of his father who told him that he might find redemption among the Sheikah...”

“What was so curious about it?”

“He said his father’s life had been spared by a Sheikah warrior more than a decade ago.”

“I’m sure I know nothing about that,” said Olin, bringing his tea to his lips.

“Did you forget that you told me or are you quietly losing your mind?” Impa asked with annoyance.

“I believe he is a spy.”

“Of course he’s a spy. We should continue to operate under that assumption, but imagine if we can inspire others to defect?”

Olin made a dismissive noise.

“Why would we want a bunch of fanatics here?”

“They did not all choose that way of life,” said Impa, “this boy certainly did not. He was born into it.”

“You are suggesting that we keep a Yiga spy in our midst?”

“And treat him with the care and respect that he would have never received among the Yiga. Do you object to this?”

“No, I was just ensuring that I knew the plan,” said Olin defensively.

Impa sipped her tea and fixed Olin with her greying stare.

“Your Kass has an incredible capacity for mercy,” she said.

“My Kass?” said Olin, though he did feel a strange pride in his student.

“You raised him.”

“I could not say where he got such a heart of gold.”

“Really, Olin? What did you hope to do with him the day you found him?”

“I reacted as anyone would upon hearing his cry. I did not have a plan...”

“And yet you took him in anyway, cared for him, taught him. You think yourself so irredeemable, but the many kindnesses you have shown will no doubt bear fruit for years to come.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kass presumably flies everywhere in-game, but so far he hasn't done much long-distance flying. It seemed like he needed to find the confidence to be able to do that.


	13. Excision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass finally takes a journey that he's been putting off for years.

Kass had flown down from Kakariko Village to Duelling Peaks Stable. He had started visiting the outside world a little more regularly to play his accordion. Kass tried to enjoy the company of the Hylians at the stable as he became reacquainted with the world beyond the Sheikah village. He listened to their stories with a feigned patience, but found he had often forgotten them by the time he returned to Kakariko Village. 

Lita and Pender—the local monster hunters—were often in attendance at Kass’s performances. Seeing Lita was actually something Kass looked forward to, as he had enjoyed her boisterous energy since he had met her on his first journey from Kakariko Village with Olin so long ago.

“We love when you come to play,” Lita gushed one night over her fifth cider.

“That’s the drink talking,” said Kass.

“No I mean it!” she said.

They had retreated to the cooking pot to escape the claustrophobic heat of too many bodies inside of the inn. Kass had grown edgy, not just at the stable. Something in him wanted to break out of these borders, even as he feared what might come from it.

“Would you count me among your friends?” Kass hazarded to ask.

“Of course! I’ve fair few enough to count.”

“There is...a journey I must undertake,” said Kass, “and I fear it will be both dangerous and harrowing.”

“I’m intrigued,” said Lita, biting her bottom lip as she smiled.

“But you’ve made this journey before. I’ve come to ask if you will accompany me.”

“Goddess, where you going?”

“Lurelin.”

Lita’s smile began to decay at the pronouncement. She took a sip of her cider and stared into the fire.

“You know, Kass,” she said, pushing a grey-streaked lock behind her ear, “even I’ve heard the rumours of Lurelin. I’ve journeyed there several times to defend wedding parties on the way to Hateno.”

“I know...I think I had a run-in with a former client...”

“You asked me once if I’d ever seen any Rito, and the truth is I haven’t. Thinkin’ of you, I sometimes ask travellers along the road if they have. Askin’ that question on the road to Lurelin was a mistake.”

“Are you saying you will not go with me?” Kass asked.

“I’m saying you shouldn’t go at all.”

Kass stared into the fire and rolled an apple between his hands.

“There’s this thing in me,” said Kass, “that needs to go back. This poison has been eating me from the inside out so long as I can remember and...these last few years I have been nearly overwhelmed by it. I tried to hide from it, but it’s catching up with me.”

“If you go back, I fear you’ll die,” said Lita.

“If I don’t,” said Kass, “I fear much the same.”

oOo

The moon had turned twice and Kass had not seen Lita since the night that they had spoken about Lurelin. On some level he was a little relieved not to have to revisit baring his soul to her, though he almost felt the need to apologize for his admission. 

Kass continued to visit both Duelling Peaks and Riverside stables to play his accordion for tips. One evening he sat outside Riverside after a performance. He asked travellers if they had come across Lita, which he did from time to time. He was about to ask the traveller with the dun horse who had just arrived arrived. Upon seeing the traveller’s face, Kass was suddenly frozen to the spot.

“You are a difficult Rito to find,” said Cyd.

For a moment Kass nearly took flight, fearing that some sort of retribution was coming his way. Instead, Cyd grabbed him by the tunic and pulled him into a manly, back-slapping embrace.

“You’ve been trying to find me?” asked Kass, his delicate bones protesting Cyd’s rough hug.

“Nikalph’s been on my case, wants us to set up another stable. Not quite sure where yet, but he keeps saying he talked to you ages ago.”

“What? I’m sure you don’t need me for any of this.”

“Oh c’mon,” Cyd chided, “you don’t want to go on adventure with me and Erie and Silda?”

“Sounds nostalgic,” said Kass, still a little dazed from Cyd’s unexpected warmth.

Some part of him still missed the friends he had thought he alienated that night so long ago.

“Well I hear the next stable’s going up by Death Mountain. Have to replace the one that was lost in the eruption.”

“That was years ago,” said Kass.

“Yeah well, Akkala Citadel wasn’t built in a day...”

“Though I heard it took less than a week to destroy it...”

“Were you always this cynical? I don’t remember you being so cynical all the time.”

Kass was struck by how nonchalantly Cyd was behaving with him, considering when last he’d seen Kass he was covered in blood and left the convoy without warning.

“Can I ask you something?” Kass asked, seizing the opportunity before him.

“Seems like you already did, but yeah,” said Cyd.

“Could you...could you come with me to Lurelin?”

“Why in Hyrule would you want to go there?”

“My reasons aside, would you?”

Cyd considered this for a moment.

“You going to come back to help us?”

“If that’s the condition for you accompanying me...then yes, I will,” agreed Kass.

“Alright,” said Cyd.

“Really? Do you understand the dangers?”

“After Lamak...yeah...I think I have a good idea.”

oOo

Kass met Cyd along with Erie and Silda at Riverside Stable a week later. Kass had managed to convince Lita and Pender to come along as well, though his charm offensive was perhaps not as well received as the purse of rupees.

The six of them set out from Riverside stable on a sunny spring morning. The weather was pleasant as they followed the road through the ruins of garrisons and outposts, though the day became less comfortable as the air grew humid near the Bridge of Hylia.

“Looks like they’re back,” said Pender, wiping a trickle of sweat from his face and drawing his bow.

“Who?” asked Kass.

“These three lizalfos,” said Lita, drawing her own bow.

“The one one the railing, through the eyes,” Silda called, notching her arrow.

Silda’s aim was true and the creature fell from the railing to the water below before Lita and Pender had even let their arrows fly.

“Maybe warn us next time,” Pender griped.

“She’s been trying to get back at every monster we’ve come across since she started wearing that eyepatch,” Cyd told Kass as they continued their crossing.

“What happened?” asked Kass.

“Lizal clawed her. It didn’t look too bad at first, but it got infected and she lost her sight in it.”

“So you three have just been together since...”

“Tabantha, yeah...we do odd jobs: guarding stables, hunting...one very unfulfilling treasure hunt...”

“I’m sorry...”

“Nobody blames you.”

“Cyd...does Nikalph not know what happened?”

“Nikalph doesn’t care. That guy only cares about profit.”

“This isn’t right. None of this is right,” said Kass.

“What the hell’s right?” said Cyd, “this whole world’s a fucking nightmare.”

“I don’t know if that sort of relativism is such a helpful concept for me,” said Kass.

“You talk like the Sheikah,” Cyd grumbled, taking a swig from his skin.

“Bit early for drink, isn’t it?”

“I gave it up. This is water.”

“I’m glad for you, Cyd.”

“Yeah, well...”

That night they set up camp under the slight overhang of a rock. They were surrounded by bits of ruins that were older than ancient. Kass had long ago grown accustomed to sleeping outdoors when travelling, but perhaps the nature of their journey was weighing on him. After tossing and turning for several hours he joined Erie, who was on watch by the fire.

“Hey,” he greeted her

“You should know,” she said, after a long silence, “I was actually quite furious with you.”

“I understand.”

“No,” said Erie, “you don’t. You left us to bury the body.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Erie had not been combative with him in the past—the night that Kass left was clearly still troubling her. Kass could not deny that he was also troubled by the way things had been left.

“But that’s only part of it,” Erie said, “I don’t have trouble making friends. I’m easy to get along with and I don’t have crippling trust issues. Silda and Cyd...it’s not really as easy for them. The amount they both missed you actually made me feel physically ill. Their willingness to do this with you...to jump right back into it...”

“Are you sure you don’t have crippling trust issues?”

“You hurt us, Kass,” said Erie, her brow furrowed, “we risked our contracts for you over and over and none of us can just run back to Kakariko Village every time things don’t go our way.”

Kass flinched.

“Yeah, we know you live with the Sheikah.”

“I know I’ve told you that I’m sorry,” said Kass, “but after...Lamak...I couldn’t...anything. I hid for years trying to work out what I had done.”

“Everyone knew it was an accident...or in the very least, self-defence.”

“And I knew...I know that. The trouble is...it’s compounded with other things...things that I just want to end.”

“Hm,” Erie sounded unimpressed.

“You don’t have to forgive me.”

“Good. I know that.”

“I really wish you could, though.”

“Go to bed, Kass.”

“Let me take your watch.”

“You think that’s going to change things?”

“No, I just can’t seem to sleep.”

“Well...I don’t argue with practicality,” said Erie, leaving the fire for her bedroll.

oOo

“You know, we all work for the Stable Association!” Cyd shouted at the grey-haired stable manager.

“You’re free-lancers and monster-hunters,” he said with a shrug.

“Why, you...”

“Cyd,” said Erie, placing a calming hand on his arm.

Lita had warned them that they would likely face resistance from Lakeside Stable if they tried to stay with Kass. Cyd had wanted to confirm this theory.

“I’m frankly, blown away by your bigotry, sir,” said Erie, “and I will be bringing it to the attention of the board when we meet with them next month.”

“Psh. The board doesn’t listen to you.”

“No, but they do listen to profits,” said Erie, “I think it might make an interesting story; six paying customers turned away from an under-performing stable...”

“I don’t really want to stay here anyway,” Kass whispered to Lita.

“That’s fine, there’s a lean to a few miles away.”

Lita seemed annoyed with the delay that Cyd and Erie were causing, but she didn’t say anything about it. When under contract, Kass could see that she was a consummate professional.

“Well, we’ll take our business elsewhere, good day sir!” said Erie.

Lita took the lead as they crossed the bridge. In the woods opposite, Kass stopped and stared at the ruins—bird statues.

“Who built these?” Kass asked as he stared up at their moss-covered faces.

“I’m surprised you don’t know,” said Erie, “they were left by the Zonai.”

Kass was struck by the sense of familiarity. Perhaps he had merely remembered them from when Olin had rescued him. Though he couldn’t remember much from that night, the unnameable childhood feelings seemed to stir within him.

When they had bedded down for the night under the shelter of the lean to, Kass struggled to sleep once more. Giving up, he sat down beside Cyd at the fire.

“Go to sleep, Kass.”

“I can’t,” he said.

“Why not? You’ve been up every night bugging the shit out of everyone.”

“Look, I want to go in to the village alone.”

“That seems like a bad idea.”

“That’s what everyone is going to say, but I need you to back me up. Please.”

“I don’t want to be a part of an agreement that gets you killed,” said Cyd darkly.

“I’ve got to do this.”

“If you said you wanted to turn around right now I would think ‘hm, that’s sensible,’ but this...”

Cyd raised his eyebrows and the silence hung between them.

“I’m going to take this as your agreement,” said Kass.

“No, don’t.”

“It’s already done. I’m going to bed.”

He heard Cyd grumbling as he closed his eyes.

oOo

“You sure about this?” asked Silda.

“Yeah,” said Kass, sliding from his horse and handing her the reins.

The group waited up the hill from the village. It had been raining steadily all day. Their clothes were splattered with mud from the road and their horses blinked against the rain. Kass took the short eightfold blade he had taken to carrying from his belt and passed it to Lita.

“It might be nice to stay at the inn,” Pender hinted.

“Tell you what,” said Lita, “we give you an hour then we’re going to the inn.”

“An hour...that’s too long,” said Cyd.

“I agree,” said Silda.

“If we all show up they might think they’re under attack,” said Kass.

“I don’t like this,” said Cyd, “you shouldn’t go alone.”

“Cyd, you promised,” said Kass.

“Well, I didn’t promise,” said Erie.

“The villagers are distrustful of outsiders,” Lita pointed out, “even other Hylians. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Kass...what if I follow at a distance? Just me.”

“Only if you’re certain,” Kass sighed, “and if things go bad you get out.”

“Haven’t lasted this long by hangin’ around...” Lita shrugged.

Kass set out down the muddy hill in the overcast evening. Unlike Hateno, no guards were posted. The rain had driven everyone to shelter, and Kass was extremely grateful for it. He approached the cabana that Lita had told him housed the current village leader. The wet dog that prowled the outside growled and he pointedly ignored it as he took the slick wooden steps up to the door. His heart felt like it would burst from fear and anticipation as he knocked.

The door opened and a woman with black hair streaked with white strands and the darkest brown eyes Kass had ever seen answered. The woman’s face tightened with fear but she did not step back.

“Are you the leader of this village?” asked Kass, his body shaking.

“Have you come to kill me?” she asked.

Kass shook his head. He had never thought he would make it this far.

“What do you want with me?”

“I just want to know...why....” Kass said numbly.

“Do you have any weapons?”

“No,” said Kass, showing her his empty belt.

“Perhaps you should come in,” she said, her eyes darting around the village.

Kass followed her out of the rain. She gestured to a short wooden chair and Kass sat uncomfortably. She sat across from him.

“My name is Ophea,” she said, “My brother was Ortis, the former leader of this tribe.”

“I’m Kass,” he said, clasping his hands to keep them from shaking, “I was born here.”

“ _‘Born.’_ You speak strangely for a Rito,” she remarked.

“I was raised among the Sheikah.”

Her mouth tightened and she nodded; it was apparent that she understood why.

“There’s no point in dancing around the issue,” she said finally, “my brother committed a crime against the Rito when he drove you from the village.”

Kass let the silence hang between them for a moment. He had imagined he would be driven once more from the village. He had imagined that he would be the subject of vilification and violence. Instead, he was sitting in the home of the leader having a solemn conversation.

“The larger crime,” said Kass, his throat suddenly dry, “was slaughtering my kin while we slept.”

“I will not defend my brother,” she said, “he was a cruel man before his child died. After...he behaved as though the Rito had stolen something from him...when men cannot protect their families, they so often turn to cruelty.”

“This sounds rather like a defence to me.”

“You said you wished to know why. The truth is it becomes easy for those who feel helpless to turn their anger upon others...but it is never right. My mother knew this; she made my brother promise her on her deathbed that he would defend the Rito as she had.”

Kass felt ill and covered his beak with the back of his wing. Even years later Kass felt the sting of betrayal from this new knowledge. 

“Mothers can be so blind to the flaws of their children,” she said bitterly.

“Why did you invite me in?” Kass asked.

“I believe in the same things as my mother. Once the Rito were gone, we were no better off. The illness continued to spread, villagers continued to die, and now we are so few...had we weathered this with our neighbours we would have better protection from the monsters which press our borders.”

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Kass asked.

“I couldn’t,” she said, “his campaign against the Rito began long before the illness struck. I should have...it is a terrible thing to consider killing your own brother...but perhaps not so terrible as allowing him to kill...”

Ophea blinked hard against the tears in her eyes, her mouth set in a firm line. Kass was once again reminded that the hatred of a few had poisoned the lives of so many left behind.

“I heard,” said Kass, “that he was killed by a Rito.”

“This is true.”

“What became of this Rito?” asked Kass.

“He flew out to sea...whether he lived or died we have heard nothing of him.”

Kass nodded, his last thread of hope severed.

“Thank you for your time...I must take my leave,” he said, standing a sudden nervous energy filling him with the urge to flee this place.

“Kass,” said Ophea, “it is so insufficient to say...but I am so very sorry for all that has happened at the hands of my brother. I have devoted every moment of my leadership to changing this place...it feels an impossible task...”

“Please tell me...am I in danger here?”

“The penalty for killing an outsider is death. We have been necessarily harsh in our punishments...but I believe there are still those who would risk it...some who have been banished because of their actions...”

Kass nodded, wondering if Lamak had been among those who had been banished. He let himself out of the cabana, gauging his surroundings with that prickle of fear. He took a moment to take in the stormy sea and the row where the Rito cabanas had stood on the western edge of the village. He forced himself to let this place go.

He found Lita waiting for him under canvas sunshade and closed the distance to her.

“I cannot stay here,” he told her.

“Agreed,” she said, “you were seen on your way in. It’s time we left.”

She offered him the Sheikah blade as they left the village. He shook his head in refusal and the two trudged back through the rain to their travelling companions. They were astonished to find them covered in a mix of mud, blood, and monster viscera.

“What in Hylia’s green land happened while we were gone?” Lita asked, approaching Pender who stanched a cut on his scalp with a handkerchief.

“Bokoblins, what else?” griped Cyd.

“We should leave,” said Kass glancing behind him.

“Are you being followed?” asked Erie.

“Best not to risk it,” said Lita, “I suspect I won’t be welcomed back any time soon. I hope you got what you wanted, Kass.”

“I don’t know what I wanted...but I got something,” said Kass.

He mounted his horse with tremendous effort. His body had ceased its nervous shivering but the experience in Lurelin had left him emotionally exhausted. He felt somehow lighter allowing the dark reminders to float away from him.

“Let’s get some distance,” said Cyd.

Kass kicked his horse into a trot, happy to oblige.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah the OC's came back...They'll be in an out because it's not very dynamic in Kass's head without people and conflict outside. The draft of the chapter was much worse without them and the Stable Association is such an important network the connection just stuck.
> 
> I feel comfortable saying it now: we are close to Rito and they are producing chapter drafts all over the place! ( I honestly thought I would have got us there by now...I'm not delaying, just ticking necessities off of a list.)


	14. The Edge of the Map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass hears a rumour and decides it's finally time to follow up on it.

“This never gets old,” said Cyd, sitting in front of the cooking pot at the recently erected Foothill Stable. 

They had set up the stable near the end of summer and had been ordered stand down for the winter. Cyd luxuriated in the peace of not having to hunt monsters or cut through overgrown paths. He brushed his lank, greying hair out of his eyes as he stared at the morning sun on the craggy foothills.

“When did this optimism start?” Kass asked Silda as she packed her horse. 

“When he quit drinking. “

“I always thought he’d die if he quit drinking,” said Kass. 

“Are you sure you’re going to stay with him?” asked Erie. 

Even after a summer of travelling and setting up stables together, it seemed to Kass that Erie would never forgive him. 

“Of course,” said Kass, “but I don’t see why we can’t go with you.”

“No _voes_ allowed,” said Silda with a wicked grin. 

“You can come with us if you want, but you may find camping in the desert a bit inhospitable,” said Erie. 

Kass glanced back at Cyd who stared out across the stony foothills. He seemed at peace with hot tea between his hands. 

“We’ll ask around and see if anyone is desperate enough to marry him,” Silda said with a half-smile.

“Please,” Kass asked, “if you hear anything of Rito...”

“We know, Kass. Well send word,” said Erie, though her expression was one of pity rather than promise. 

Kass wrapped his wings around both of them as they said goodbye. He felt rather than saw Cyd join them. 

“Goddess, let go of me,” grumbled Silda, sandwiched between Kass and Cyd. 

“Take care of yourselves. I hope we meet again,” said Erie. 

“Wait, you’re not coming back?” asked Cyd, the contented expression leaving his face.

“We’ll be back if Nikalph summons us...though, I can’t imagine there is anywhere else to set up a stable,” said Erie. 

Erie and Silda mounted their horses and took the road toward Lanayru. Cyd’s mood had turned dark, but not so vile as when he had relied on drink. Kass understood that he regarded Erie and Silda as family after long years of tying their fortunes together, but he was in no mood to talk to Kass. Cyd sulked near the cooking pot and Kass climbed a nearby hill to play his accordion. 

“That’s music to my ears, brother,” called a travelling Goron merchant. 

“That’s because it is music. I’m trying to capture the essence of this place,” said Kass. 

“They call me Mobeg.” 

“Kass.”

“I’ve never met a Rito in these parts, goro,” he said, approaching Kass. 

“Have you met one before?” Kass asked out of habit.

“Once, on the road.”

“What? Where?” Kass asked breathlessly.

“In Gerudo Canyon Pass.”

“When was this?” Kass asked, gripping Mobeg’s rough arm. 

“It’s been at least five summers,” he said, unbothered by Kass’s proximity. 

“Tell me everything you can,” Kass begged. 

“About this Rito?” 

“Please! I have spent my life searching for my kin.” 

“He was a Rito, sure enough, but no kin of yours,” said Mobeg, “his feathers were the colour of wasteland stone and he had the countenance of a hunter. He and I fought monsters together as we made our way through the pass. His skill was extraordinary; his could use a bow while in flight, just as the legends said. He would not share his name because he was in exile from his people...a punishment he was to endure for two winters. “

“Did he say where his people lived?”

“I didn’t think to ask, and he didn’t share that knowledge with me. I doubt he would have.”

“Thank you, Mobeg,” said Kass dully. 

“I hope you find them, brother. To live without your people is a fate I would wish upon no one,” said Mobeg, returning to the path back to Death Mountain. 

oOo 

Though the crispness of autumn was in the air, Kass had become too troubled to remain at the stable after hearing the story of a Rito spotted so recently. Cyd was hesitant to leave, but Kass coaxed him into joining him for a journey back to Kakariko Village to reexamine the maps which had so frustrated him in his youth.

“We can cut our journey down by a day if we take the boardwalks through the wetlands,” said Cyd as they looked out over the dark water. 

Kass looked out across the dilapidated walks. He was always unnerved to see the torches lit when he passed this way at night. The chatter of lizalfos gave him pause.

“I have never attempted to cross this way,” said Kass.

“Don’t worry, I have...many times. It was here I found my first sword and learned to fight,” said Cyd grimly.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s go,” Cyd urged.

Kass sighed and they led their horses across the wooden walkway. Kass kept one hand on the Sheikah sword that he carried. As they neared a bend, Cyd put out a hand to stop Kass and passed him the reins to his horse. Kass saw ahead what Cyd saw: a green lizalfos curled in sleep. Cyd quietly drew his sword and strode soundlessly to the monster to finish it while it slept.

Once they had come to the end of the boardwalk without further incident they returned to horseback. They rode over sunken logs, lashed together to make boardwalks between the tiny islands.

“You said you learned to fight here,” Kass pressed.

“Yeah.”

“Normally, you can’t seem to keep anything to yourself. What’s different right now?” Kass pried.

“You think you’re the only little orphan child there ever was?” snapped Cyd.

“Of course not,” said Kass, surprised and a little defensive at Cyd’s sudden anger.

“I’m sure you don’t want to hear it...no one ever does.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” sighed Kass, “but I promise that if you do want to tell me, I want to hear it.”

“We came through Trilby Plain with the caravan,” he said.

“I remember. Silda was furious because you left.”

“I left because...there are...ruins...remains of houses. It was where I grew up,” Cyd cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry,” said Kass, and he meant it.

“You don’t know what you’re sorry for.”

“I’m sorry for your pain, Cyd.”

“Yeah well, why don’t you write it down in your little book...turn it into a song...”

“If you want me to, I will. I’ve recorded the stories of many people in those pages.”

Cyd gestured to Kass that they steer away from an island. Kass saw a light flitting among the ruins; what he had assumed to be firefly was actually much more sinister.

“Is that a wizzrobe?” Kass asked in a low voice.

“I’m surprised you know that,” said Cyd.

“I’ve only seen it in books.”

“Best we avoid it.”

Once they had left the wizzrobe’s proximity, Kass pressed Cyd to continue his story.

“When I had seen twelve summers I began to travel this way,” said Cyd, “hunting frogs, fishing. Goponga Village was where my parents’ parents had lived before the Calamity, so it felt right to raid the ruins for resources. I learned to fight lizalfos with a rusty sword...but one evening I returned to my home to find that...”

Cyd paused for a moment, his jaw tightening. Kass was silent as they reached solid ground. They dismounted; Cyd’s horse had developed a limp, though neither of them could see anything wrong with it. Kass felt up and down the horse’s legs, but he could find no swelling.

“We should lead them,” suggested Kass, “the stable isn’t so far.”

“Kass...when you confronted your past in Lurelin...did it help?”

“I think it did,” said Kass, “it was like an infection slowly poisoning me...now it’s more like a scar...I feel the pain sometimes, but I think it’s better...at least better than it was.”

“I didn’t make it back to the ruins when we stopped in Trilby...I don’t think you can make sense of the chaos of evil.”

“What happened?” Kass prompted, but only because Cyd seemed to be dying to let go of his own poison.

“You have to understand...it was a tiny place we had in Trilby. Three families escaped Goponga and their children intermarried. We were all kin...”

Cyd smiled for a moment, perhaps remembering better times. His smile wavered and his eyes shone with unshed tears for the only time that Kass could recall.

“That evening that I returned, it was to find my entire family...they had fallen prey to the hunger of the monsters that lived in the foothills...my parents...my aunts and uncle...my sister...my baby brother...”

Kass didn’t want to hear more, but he felt responsible for bearing witness to Cyd’s pain. Cyd wiped his eyes on the back of his hand and inhaled sharply, regaining his composure.

“I cremated their remains,” he said mechanically, “and then I climbed the foothill to where the monsters had built their home in a tree...while they slept, I laid kindling in a ring around their tree. And when I lit it...I listened to them scream...”

Cyd had got his revenge, but Kass could see that it had left its toxic imprint upon him. 

“I met a Goron travelling to the South Akkala stable and followed him...I just sort of...decayed there until I was recruited to defend the scouting team.”

When they arrived at the stable Cyd sat down at the table and ordered a cider.

“Cyd...”

“Leave me be, Kass,” he said as the glazed cup was set before him.

“Don’t,” said Kass, pressing his hand over Cyd’s arm, “you’ve done so well without it.”

“Go to bed, Kass,” said Cyd dully, shaking off Kass’s grip and taking a drink.

“What would Silda do to you right now?”

“Probably hit me with the flat of her sword...but I doubt we’ll ever see her or Erie again.”

This seemed to depress Cyd even more and he threaded his fingers through his limp hair as he rested his elbow on the table. Kass left him at the table and approached the innkeeper.

“Don’t serve him any more cider,” said Kass.

“Aren’t you the Rito who used to work at Riverside?”

“I am. Are you going to stop serving him?”

“You’ve worked at a stable, you know cider’s big business.”

Kass took two red rupees from his drawstring purse and slid them to the innkeeper.

“This is more than what he would drink. If you serve him I will register a complaint with the board the next time I’m in Hateno,” he said in his best imitation of Erie.

“Fine,” he agreed.

Fortunately, when Kass returned to Cyd he found him exhausted from their journey and willing to retire for the evening after his drink. Kass sat on the bed beside Cyd when it seemed as though he might break down again.

“If you need anything, promise you’ll wake me,” said Kass, worried Cyd might take off on his own.

“I’m fine just...go to bed, Kass.” 

Kass stripped off his outerwear and settled uncomfortably into bed. He hoped this incident would not repeat itself along the journey.

oOo

“Kass, are you entirely certain that this is what you want to do?” asked Olin as Kass collected his warmest clothing from his teacher’s cottage.

“This is the most credible and recent account of a Rito I’ve ever heard. If they’re still in this world it’s where they were once most populous.”

“Hebra is cold,” Olin warned, “colder than the coldest winter you’ve known here.”

“I know. I’ve been to the tailor for a lined tunic.”

“At least wait until the spring; you have already waited this long.”

“Olin...do you need someone to stay with you?” Kass asked.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Your cottage seems to be...in a state of disrepair.”

Kass was being polite, of course; Olin’s cottage had become rather a mess. His desk was buried under stacks of paper and his bowls sat unwashed upon the table. A basket of fruit decayed on the sideboard and flies buzzed around the softening flesh.

“When you’ve seen nearly a century you tell me how important house-keeping is,” Olin snapped.

Kass sighed. Olin had not been a young man when he rescued him, but he had had the strength and vitality of a man many years younger. Now, it seemed that he had suddenly grown old and stooped before Kass’s eyes. Kass silently set about cleaning the mess, but stayed away from Olin’s desk.

“I have those papers organized exactly as they should be!” Olin shouted when Kass walked near the desk.

“I promise not to touch your work,” Kass said.

“And that Hylian you’re travelling with...the man’s not well. He’s spent every night at the inn drinking and he’s bought out the plum brandy!”

Kass worried that he shared some of the blame for that as well, but he knew he could not be responsible for Cyd’s actions. Caught between his mentor and his friend, Kass had chosen to make sure that Olin’s needs were being met. Though he would never say it, Kass worried each time he left him that it might be the last. Only a few of Olin’s peers remained and Impa had confessed to Kass that Olin seemed to be lost at times, forgetting where he was and the names of people around him.

“They say I’m losing my mind,” ranted Olin, outraged at nothing as Kass was about to leave for the inn.

“No one is saying anything. You are loved and respected among the Sheikah. Oysha has promised to visit you every day.”

“Kass,” he begged, “I still know who I am. I know what they are saying about me, but I am the same as I’ve always been.”

Kass swallowed the lump that formed in his throat at his teacher’s distress. Olin was clearly conflicted and Kass needed his honesty more than ever.

“If you are the same, then advise me,” said Kass, “what would you have me do?”

Olin got up from his seat and walked to Kass. The long strides had been replaced by a more careful shuffle and Olin seemed both shorter and smaller than he had when last Kass had seen him. He placed his hands on Kass’s wings as he had when Kass had left on his own for the first time.

“My dear boy,” he said, “there are few in this world whose company I enjoy so much as yours, but you’ve wasted so much of your life hiding here. Don’t stay on my account...but please be careful. Travelling in the winter can be treacherous.”

“It’s not yet winter,” said Kass.

“In much of Hebra it is always winter.”

“I will be cautious,” said Kass.

He wrapped his wings around the brittle bones of his mentor, fighting the tears that pricked his eyes at this goodbye.

“Please return to me one day,” said Olin.

“I will,” promised Kass.

“But you must repair that hole in your heart; find your people first.”

oOo

By the time they had reached Tabantha the cool of autumn had been replaced with something more biting. At the Tabantha Great Bridge, Kass and Cyd could not continue on as the already tenuous structure was slicked with ice and snow. Thick flakes drifted down from the heavens and caught in their horses’ manes and eyelashes.

“Well, I guess we’re stuck at the stable for now,” said Cyd, seemingly pleased.

Kass nodded and sighed; he had given up on trying to curb Cyd’s drinking. He felt as though he had somehow provoked him back into the habit the night he had asked for Cyd’s story, but Cyd was not ready to quit again. Kass was powerless against Cyd’s ongoing sense that Silda and Erie had left him. While Kass had been irritated by this, he had come to acknowledge that the two women had come to form the closest thing to familial bonds that Cyd had know since his childhood.

“C’mon Kass, don’t you want a warm bed?”

“Alright...yes,” he acquiesced.

Inside of the stable, Kass stripped off his snowy cloak and sat on the bed he’d purchased to unwind the leg-wraps which were cold and damp from the day’s journey. Cyd—less considerate of Kass’s personal space once he began drinking—sat on the end of the bed, drinking Kakariko plum brandy from a skin.

“I’m not sharing my bed,” warned Kass.

“They tell me no one really uses the bridge...the only people who have been to the other side of the Tanagar Canyon are hunters who ride around the northern edge to the Snowfield Stable.”

“Why wouldn’t people take the bridge?”

“Rough terrain, a lot of monsters. It’s no picnic on the other side.”

“Go sit on your own bed; I’m ready to sleep,” said Kass, trying to get under the blankets.

“I don’t know if we’re going the right way.”

“Let’s talk in the morning...” said Kass, pushing his feet under the covers and trying shift Cyd.

“I think that—”

“Cyd, please,” said Kass, trying to keep an even temper, “go check out the register or something. I’m tired from the road.”

Cyd went to the table to drink alone. Kass—a little cruelly—hardly wondered why Silda and Erie had left him behind; the man who had seemed so crass and self-interested when Kass had met him years ago had come to be rather dependant on his only personal connections once he became used to them. Kass sorely regretted the plan that he was already hatching...

oOo

The next day Kass approached Geggle for a lay of the land. The stablehand stared out over the bridge from atop the rocky plateau where the dark shining stone of a shrine protruded. Kass followed his gaze out beyond the canyon.

“You see that pillar that juts into the sky?” said Geggle.

Kass shielded his eyes against the morning sun which glared harshly off of the pristine fields of snow. The pillar stood out in the landscape like a gnarled finger pointing to the heavens.

“They say that’s where the Rito live.”

“But you’ve never seen them?” pressed Kass.

“Too far, and it’s a treacherous journey. I once crossed the bridge, but the monsters on that side have had the run of the place for so long they’ve grown strong and numerous. I crossed back as quickly as I could before I became their dinner.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“Not to quote chapter four, article nine of the Stable Association Regulations Guidebook...”

“Refrain if you can,” sighed Kass.

“Anyway...I live to serve,” shrugged Geggle.

Kass glided down to the stable. The tracings of maps Impa had lent him may have been a little out of date, but as far as Kass could see they were not completely inaccurate. He rolled them and placed them in his satchel along with his tightly-folded cloak and rations.

“Where’ve you been?” Cyd asked.

“Up near the shrine.”

“I never took you as the praying sort.”

“I wasn’t praying, I was...” Kass halted the sentence.

“What?”

“Planning.”

“The horses can’t get through this snow.”

“Cyd, come outside with me,” said Kass, glancing back at a stablehand who seemed a little too interested in their conversation.

They sat near the cooking pot; the spot was somewhat less popular in the winter than the summer so the two could talk alone. Kass was not relishing this.

“I’m leaving, Cyd,” Kass said.

“When?”

“Now.”

“You’re leaving me in this winter hellscape?”

“I’m coming back.”

“So you’re just going to ride out on your own?”

“No. This weather is no good for riding. I’m going to fly.”

“That far? In the cold?” Cyd asked incredulously, “I’ve seen you bundle up over a light breeze!”

“I’m going to come back as soon as I can.”

“Not if you freeze to death!”

“I’m so close and I don’t feel that I have the time to waste!” he said, thinking of Olin.

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“Stay here. Leave. Do whatever you want, but leave a message at the desk if you do go.”

“I knew this was going to happen...”

“Cyd...”

“I followed you on this fool’s errand because you’re my friend,” Cyd said.

“I’m not abandoning you,” said Kass, trying to smooth over the things that Cyd left unsaid, “I will come back. You have my word.”

“Fine...but if I get a better offer, I’m selling your horse,” he said.

“Do what you feel you need to,” sighed Kass.

Cyd looked dejected. Their parting was far more resentful than it had been with Erie and Silda, but Kass still hugged his friend tightly before ascending the tallest mushrooming pillar. Kass tied his scarf tightly and secured his weapon and pack to his belt before he spread his wings and set out across the canyon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're really close now! No turning back this time!


	15. Wings Above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass risks his life in his desperation to find his people.

Kass had thought what would have taken days on horseback should have taken much less time on wing. He hadn’t counted on the fierceness of the freezing winds which buffeted him and blew him off course. They day had been bitterly cold. As the temperature plummeted with the setting of the sun, the night was so much worse. His wings numb and aching from the cold, Kass circled a few evergreens near a rock formation. Seeing no monsters, he drifted down and landed beside a rock face which partially blocked the wind. 

Kass pulled his folded cloak from his satchel and wrapped himself it it as he shuddered against the cold. Though his tunic was lined with fleece, the trenchant wind found its way into the gaps between toggles and under his collar. His legs seemed to be fighting him, refusing to go where he willed as he gathered fallen branches from beneath the nearby spruce trees to start a small fire. He settled himself near the fire and tried to dry the wraps which bound his freezing feet.

Though he was no stranger to travelling on his own, Kass was well and truly afraid in this unfamiliar place. As he warmed himself near his tiny fire, he tried to fight the drowsiness that was descending upon him. He ate the bits of charred meat and bread he had wrapped in a cloth, though he was disturbed by how they had hardened with the cold.

As he stared out at the pillar—now closer than ever—he could see lights twinkling along the outside. His heart constricted; someone certainly occupied that pillar! 

Invigorated by this realization, he stamped out his tiny fire and returned the cumbersome cloak to its place in his satchel then attempted to ascend the rocky hill for a better take-off. The wind whipped at his feathers and the bones in his wings ached with the cold, especially the one he had broken when he was young. His talons scrabbled on the icy rock, his grip hampered by the thick binding of the wraps. A gust of wind caused him to momentarily lose his balance and he scraped his thigh against a jagged rock as he caught himself.

He held his thigh, swearing at the hot pain that cut through the frozen flesh. He crouched to examine the laceration through the trouser-leg when another set of lights below him caught his eye. It was a bokoblin camp. The wind direction was not in his favour and he could only hope that the frigid air didn’t carry the scent of blood down to them.

Kass shook the icy droplets of melted snow from his wings which had refrozen after he had extinguished the fire. Every part of him was quivering in the cold as he unfurled his wings to take off.

“You’re nearly there,” he whispered to himself, fighting the gale as he took off.

Exhausted from his journey, Kass lost control when the wind pushed him over the bokoblin camp. He heard them screeching and realized they were not so far below as he thought. He flapped his unfeeling wings to tried and climb higher.

A wooden spear thrown from below scraped through his flight feathers and Kass screeched in pain. He was unable to do more than slow his descent. As he hit the ground he drew the Sheikah blade, though he could barely hold it in his state of fatigue.

 _I should have listened to Olin,_ he thought as he scrambled clumsily through the snow, sure that this was how he would die.

As the bokoblins closed in on him, he heard a clarion screech in the sky. Around him the monsters began to fall in a shower of arrows from above. Frozen where he had fallen in his scramble, he looked up to see his rescuers.

Four Rito flew in glorious dips and swoops, drawing their bows in midair and unleashing a flurry of arrows. When the bokoblins had fallen around him, Kass tried to stand, but found he was too weak and overwhelmed. 

One of the Rito landed beside Kass. His feathers were sea green and his beak was razor-sharp. He reached out to Kass and Kass gripped his wing desperately, unable to believe that he could feel warm flesh and feathers beneath his grip.

“You’re Rito,” he said to Kass in disbelief.

Kass nodded desperately, his throat too constricted to make a sound.

“Kyvoro!” the green Rito called to one of the others.

A Rito the colour of storm clouds landed on Kass’s other side. The other two—one the colour of snow the other as dark as night, both lanky with youth—landed behind Kyvoro.

“Goddess...where did you come from?” Kyvoro breathed.

“Tabantha Bridge Stable,” said Kass.

“You look tropical,” said Kyvoro, puzzled by the answer.

“You meant originally,” shuddered Kass, still far to overcome to believe this to be anything more than some desperate dream.

“Perhaps this should wait until we return to the village,” suggested the green Rito, no doubt noticing how Kass shivered in his grip.

“Genik is right. Can you fly?” asked Kyvoro.

“I don’t know,” Kass told him honestly.

Kyvoro glanced at the blood splattered in the snow near them.

“Is that trail yours?” he asked.

Kass looked down to see the missing feathers and torn tissue on his wing from where the spear had hit and feared he would be ill. He had not let go of Genik since he had been found and he squeezed the Rito hard at the sight of the mangled flesh. Kyvoro saw the wound as well and his expression grew more serious.

“Genik is right, we must go. Harth,” Kyvoro called to the dark Rito, “fly ahead and inform the elder that we will have a guest in our midst.”

“What is your name?” Genik asked.

“Kass.”

“An unusual name,” Genik remarked.

“Kass, Genik and I will fly you to the village,” Kyvoro informed him.

They hoisted Kass to his feet between them. Kass nearly wept at the desperate desire for camaraderie with his fellow Rito.

“You carry a lot of things,” the white Rito remarked suspiciously, staring at Kass’s belt, “and a heavy weapon.”

“Teba,” interrupted Kyvoro, “go wake your wife. We will need her skills.”

Kass watched the Rito leap into the yawning void above the lake below and ride the air currents toward the village. He thought Teba seemed awfully young to be married, but Kass was far too tired to speculate. 

His wing throbbed as Genik pulled it gently over his shoulder and he and Kyvoro each wrapped a wing around him. For so long the only wings he had felt around him were his own; his heart ached again with that wretched pain at the touch of their wings around his back.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Genik as they neared the steep rock face that contained the lake and Kass saw the ice floes below.

“Have you done this before?” he asked, worried that their slighter frames might not be able to bear his weight.

“Have you not?” asked Kyvoro just before he and Genik pulled Kass into a dive and caught the current upward.

Kass’s head was spinning. After so long wondering if he was alone in the world, he had found his people. He felt secure between Genik and Kyvoro, as though he had finally found safety after so many years of wandering in danger. He feared he might weep with relief as they touched down on a small landing which jutted out from the boardwalk.

“Come to my home,” Kyvoro said, inviting them down to the roost on the lowest level.

Genik kept a wing around Kass for support as they followed Kyvoro down the boardwalk. Kass could barely feel his injuries; his senses were far too busy drinking in the village. He could see into the open roosts, where Rito slept soundly in hammocks secured to the rafters. They were not so different from the cabanas where the Rito had lived in Lurelin.

Kass had to blink back the tears which nearly overwhelmed him as they entered Kyvoro’s roost. In a hammock along the half-wall slept a small red Rito.

“My daughter, Cecili,” said Kyvoro in a low voice, seeing Kass’s emotional gaze.

Kass felt as though his heart was about to burst looking at the Rito child, so peaceful in sleep. Kyvoro tucked her blanket more securely around her and Kass felt the constriction in his chest nearly sicken him. Perhaps it was a memory of his own parents that he had buried so deeply that it came to him more as a feeling than a coherent thought...perhaps it was merely a reminder of the parental care that Olin had always given him.

“You don’t worry this might wake her?” asked Genik as he guided Kass to a pair of cushions propped at the back of the roost.

“Better my child than your wife...unless you wish to relocate?”

“No,” said Genik quickly.

Presently, Teba and Harth returned—a little raucously—with a Rito woman who carried a woven bag. Kass had not seen so many Rito in one place since he was child. He felt light-headed and giddy and seemed to be unable to breathe. He covered his face with his wing, tears springing to his eyes from the tangle of emotions in his chest. Kyvoro gestured for Teba and Harth to leave as Genik sat down beside Kass.

“Kass, what’s happened? Are you ill?” Genik asked quietly.

Kass shook his head and inhaled unsteadily. These people seemed friendly, but he worried about telling them too much. He was unsure how he had imagined this meeting going, but he had not imagined that he would feel so guarded.

“It’s only that...I have not seen another Rito in more than twenty summers,” he told Genik under his breath, hoping that he might defer this conversation as long as he could.

“How is that possible?”

“I’ll need some light,” said the female Rito to Kyvoro as she approached Kass and spared him from answering.

“This is Saki, Teba’s wife,” said Kyvoro, moving a lantern to the floor beside them “she is our healer.”

Saki looked quite young to Kass, but she was gentle as she cleansed his wounds. Kass suppressed the urge to cry out as she methodically plucked a few damaged feathers near the wound on his wing. 

“Relax,” said Genik, placing a hand on his tense shoulder, “you’re in good hands.”

“How did you come to be a healer?” Kass asked her.

“I followed the traditions of my family. My mother’s mother taught me everything I know,” she said, applying a salve to the torn skin.

“What is your trade?” Genik asked Kass.

“I’ve done many things...I compose and perform music; I write poetry and histories...I have earned my living recently as a surveyor of sorts.”

“A...surveyor?” said Kyvoro pensively.

“I’m unfamiliar with this trade,” said Genik.

“I’m a part of a scouting team actually. We escort convoys and set up stables.”

The Rito looked at each other as though they were hearing something profoundly strange.

“Why would Rito need stables?” Saki asked curiously, “we neither ride nor farm.”

“My team is, ah...” Kass cleared his throat, “I work with Hylians.”

They exchanged glances once again and Kass felt himself growing self-conscious. The hospitality that he had been shown seemed to have grown a little cooler. Kass wished he could be surprised about the distrust the Rito felt towards Hylians.

“It’s late, I must return home,” said Saki.

“Thank you for...” Kass lifted his bandaged wing, and Saki looked at him strangely as she left.

Kass shivered as the wind blew through Kyvoro’s roost. Kyvoro noticed this and placed a patterned blanket in front of Kass.

“You are not suited to this climate,” he observed.

“I’m not,” Kass agreed, wrapping the blanket around himself.

He looked up out of the open portion of the roost and could see lights and movement in the roosts above them.

“The others will want to see you,” said Genik, following Kass’s gaze.

The thought of more Rito coming to ask him about his life and then staring at him as one would a captive animal was overwhelming to Kass. He pressed a hand against his chest. He had always thought that a meeting with the Rito would be joyous, but he found the apprehension he now felt was not much different than what he had felt when he had rode to Lurelin—only now his friends were not beside him.

“I have instructed Teba and Harth to keep guard,” said Kyvoro, “Kass is not in a fit state to meet the entire village...and such a meeting will not be taking place in my roost while my daughter is sleeping.”

“I appreciate this,” said Kass.

Kyvoro looked at him strangely. Did the Rito not say ‘thank you’? Perhaps they just did not respond to it. His meditation on the mannerisms of the Rito was interrupted by the arrival of a large, scholarly-looking Rito.

“Elder,” said Kyvoro, “this is Kass.”

Kass stood out of respect, as he would have with Impa. He felt Genik and Kyvoro’s eyes once more upon him. He swore he could hear laughter outside of the roost.

“Don’t feel you must stand for me,” said the elder, “I am called Kaneli.”

Kass returned to his seat on the floor beside Genik, his thigh throbbing from his sudden movement. Kaneli looked to Kass to have come from a different Rito tribe than the four Rito who had come to his rescue.

“We have long wondered if your tribe survived the Calamity,” said Kaneli, his expression elated.

“Ah...” Kass hesitated.

“You see, we have suffered greatly in recent years; our civilization is on the verge of collapse. Together we could forge a more secure future.”

Kass hesitated, disappointment lancing him through. He could see Teba on the boardwalk pretending that he was not eavesdropping.

“You have not met any tropical Rito?” Kass asked cautiously.

“We so rarely leave sight of our village and we had assumed the climate too inhospitable for our tropical brethren to venture to meet us.”

“I am sorry to be the bearer of this news,” said Kass carefully, “but I have long believed myself to be the last among my kin.”

Kaneli looked disappointed for a second before he neutralized the expression. Beside him Genik also looked saddened. Kyvoro remained impassive.

“This is sad news indeed,” said Kaneli, “and you are no doubt weary from your journey. We can speak more at a later time. Please, feel welcome here.”

Kaneli left the roost and Genik shifted uncomfortably beside him. Kass wondered if the guards around him were protecting him from the village or the village from him. 

Kyvoro strung two light-weight hammocks in the roost.

“Genik, will stay the night with us,” he insisted.

Kass suspected these measures must be for him. He placed his belt, accordion, satchel, and sword on the floor of the roost and climbed into the hammock. He wrapped himself in the blanket and accepted another that Genik passed to him. The intoxicating feeling of being near his people had grown bitter as Kass realized they were a wary and suspicious people. He was no longer comforted by Genik’s close proximity as their hammocks blew against each other in the wind.

Kass still shivered all through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated quickly because you've waited long enough...sadly, there is quite a bit of work to be done on the next few chapters so my updates will probably not be so quick. The canonical characters will have an increased role as this goes on, but I am matching the sort of ambivalent relationships they have with Kass in the first installment of this series...but they're a bit young and difficult right now...
> 
> Leave some love :-)


	16. The Dream’s Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass tries to adjust to his reality in Rito Village as his injuries mend.

His first morning in the village, Kass was summoned to speak to Kaneli. Genik escorted him up the boardwalk as Rito stopped to meet him. He was glad for Genik facilitating introductions as he still felt the whole scenario was surreal. When he awoke that morning in Kyvoro’s roost, he was unsure whether or not he wanted all that had transpired the night before to be true. Though he was finally surrounded by his people, he found there was nothing he wanted so desperately as Olin’s guidance.

“Genik, how long will you be observing my every move?” he asked the green-feathered Rito as they traversed the boardwalk.

Kass suspected after Genik’s kind treatment of him the night before that he was the closest thing to an ally he might have.

“Kyvoro is in charge of on such matters,” said Genik disinterestedly.

“Are you always so hostile to outsiders?” Kass pressed.

“You are the only outsider to enter the village in decades. This is caution, not hostility.”

When they arrived at the elder’s roost, the guard Kass recognized as Teba was waiting outside with a feathered spear clenched in his hand. It looked to Kass as though Teba had been given guard duty on his account rather than in the usual course of his duties. It appeared that there was no real place for Teba to stand outside of Kaneli’s roost, and Kass and Genik crowded onto the landing beside the ruffled guard.

“What are you waiting for?” Teba asked when Kass stopped outside of the door frame.

“Where I live, permission must be sought before entering the home of the leader.”

“Among Hylians?” Teba scoffed.

Kass said nothing; he suspected that the Rito neither knew of nor acknowledged a difference between Hylians and Sheikah. He made sure to look Teba in they eyes as he passed him and entered the elder’s roost.

oOo

When Teba was relieved of his position he sought out Harth. Harth was supposed to be surveying the stacks, but Teba was not surprised to find him slacking off near the salmon pond. He was also not surprised to find his friend trying to charm Amali who sat by the pond with Saki.

“Well, Teba,” said Harth, “all they’ve been talking about is the visitor.”

“The consensus is that he’s quite good-looking,” said Saki, no doubt in a bid to irritate him.

“I hope I don’t need to remind you that you’re already married,” said Teba humourlessly.

“Hardly likely to forget, am I?”

“He can barely fly! That featherbrain would have been dead if we weren’t on our way to clear out those bokoblins,” said Harth.

“You sound jealous, Harth,” said Amali.

“How could I be jealous of that motley fool?”

Teba would have been inclined to agree with Harth’s derision had he not stood outside of Kaneli’s roost while the elder had wrenched Kass’s life story from him. After what he had heard, he regarded Kass with pity rather than distaste.

“Do you think he’ll stay?” asked Amali.

“Perhaps you should ask your brother,” said Teba, “Genik has been at his side since he we found him.”

“Misa had better watch out or she may lose her husband,” said Harth.

“Don’t talk about my brother like that.”

“Kass is strange, though,” said Saki, “he has no trade and is not a warrior.”

“Being a warrior isn’t everything,” said Amali.

“If all we’re going to do is gossip about the newcomer, I have other things to do,” Teba griped.

“Like what?” asked Harth skeptically.

“I imagine digging out my own eye would be more interesting and less painful. I’ll be at the Flight Range.”

oOo

Kass remained in the village as the days wore on. Somehow the stares he received there perturbed him more than the stares he had grown accustomed to in the outside world; at least the Hylians pretended not to be staring. In the open air roosts of the village Kass felt as though he was on display for anyone who cared to look. 

Kass was also quickly learning that this village was full of sore spots he was expected to avoid but he couldn’t possibly know about. To compound his aggravation, he was expected to set aside all the things about which he was sensitive and answer all manner of questions. When he made a misstep with the Rito, he was afforded no such understanding.

One evening, Kass sat in Kyvoro’s roost and unwrapped the bandage on his wing to assess the damage. The skin near his elbow was tender and scabbing and bare where the damaged feathers had been removed. 

“It doesn’t look so bad,” said Genik, peeking at Kass’s wing as he returned to Kass’s side.

“Is there no concept of privacy here?”

Genik looked a little hurt at Kass’s caustic tone.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” Kass sighed and rewound the bandage on his wing.

“I imagine this is a strange experience for you,” Genik said, sitting cross-legged beside Kass.

“My teacher used to read me poems and stories,” said Kass, “and the one about the boy who got everything he ever wanted only to find that the pleasure was in the wanting springs to mind.”

“I don’t know that one.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t...although I think it’s more applicable to sweets and cakes.”

Kass winced a little as he tried to fasten the bandage so that it would not unravel. Genik reached over to help, unbidden.

“You should probably avoid flying for a while,” said Genik.

“My friend waits for me across the Great Bridge. I wouldn’t want him to think he’s been forgotten.”

Genik sighed.

“What?” Kass pressed.

“The elder wants you to stay.”

“What? For how long?”

“He thinks that you could be an excellent addition to the village.”

“He’s very...marriage-minded I’ve noticed,” Kass carefully floated.

Kass had also noticed this was a sore-spot for many Rito, and Kass was hoping he could get some information out of his chatty guard.

“It’s more than that,” said Genik, “there was an accident a decade ago. More than half our population died and the elder has been...let’s say he’s been encouraging procreation even among those who are least interested.”

“Do you not want children?” Kass asked, picking up on Genik’s embittered tone.

Genik’s expression hardened. There was another sore-spot, though at least Genik did not storm off as Kyvoro had when Kass had accidentally asked about Kyvoro’s wife.

“Do you?” deflected Genik.

“I had not even thought it in the realm of possibility...”

But to have a family? Though he was still overwhelmed by everything about this place, this was something that was now foreseeable. Having lost his own parents, he found he now wanted family so badly he might be willing to put up with the strangeness of this village. At least on these pillars they could not be attacked by angry neighbours.

“If you stay here you’ll be set-up,” Genik assured him a little bitterly.

“An arranged marriage?”

“Almost all of them are.”

“I don’t think I want that,” said Kass.

“What do your...the people you live among do?”

“Some are love matches. Some are arranged, usually between wealthier families.”

“I have only met Hylians in the mountains. There are a few who live there in seclusion. I admired their free spirits.”

“I have mostly lived among the Sheikah...though I suppose they’re like Hylians, except they are a little more...philosophical I suppose.”

“Genik,” said Kyvoro as he entered the room with Cecili and a plate of fried fish, “Misa insists that you return home.”

“Surely you told her that I am attending to my duties.”

“I will ensure your responsibilities are covered for tonight. Your wife misses you.”

Genik’s expression told Kass that he doubted this, but he left anyway.

As the evening wore on, so did the silence with Kyvoro. Where Genik was talkative and a good distraction, Kyvoro was silent and Kass was left to ponder whether he should leave in the night. A visit from Saki crushed any hope of Kass flying out as she rebound his injured wing. That night, Kass lay awake in his hammock, and shivered under his unfolded cloak and two blankets.

oOo

After a week, Kyvoro had lifted the guard on Kass and granted him the freedom to go where he pleased, though it was strongly implied that he was not to leave the perimeter of Rito lands. Kass was not entirely sure where that was, but he still had misgivings about the strength of his wing. As it was, Kass doubted he could out-fly anyone in this village. He was sure that he had spent more time travelling on horseback and by foot than perhaps any Rito in history, but he was not a particularly skilful flyer when compared to the likes of the Rito warriors. If they wanted him to stay, he was certain they would fetch him back easily.

As a test flight, he flew to the top of one of the narrow stacks in the lake to find it was slightly hollow near the top. He landed on the frozen moss inside and sat down near two statues. He pulled out his accordion to play while he thought. 

It was not long before he was interrupted. Kass—valuing his solitude and still suffering culture shock over the complete lack of privacy in the village—suppressed his anger when an emerald green Rito landed on the lip of rock.

“You’re Genik’s sister.”

“Amali,” she said.

“Kass. Though you probably know that.”

“I’ve never heard music like this. May I stay a while?” she asked, hopping down beside him.

“Yes, I suppose so,” said Kass.

“Where did you get such an instrument?”

“Long story...”

She looked at him expectantly.

“That’s something Hylians say when they don’t want to share the long story,” said Kass.

“Are you really so intent on becoming the grouchy old foreigner?” Amali asked antagonistically.

“Foreigner? Is that what they’re calling me? And I’m not old.”

“You came to find us! You hardly have cause to despise our ways when it was you who came looking!”

“I don’t want to fight,” Kass sighed, “and I don’t despise anyone. This is all as strange to me as I must seem to you.”

Amali looked agitated.

“Come, sit down,” Kass said, “I’m sorry that I’ve been sharp with you.”

Amali reluctantly sat near Kass, though she still did not look terribly pleased.

“Your brother has been very kind to me,” Kass said, trying to smooth things over.

“He is a warrior with the unusual gift of compassion.”

“Is that unusual?”

“It seems to be among the warriors I grew up with. They’re children, obsessed with image and control...Genik is anomalous.”

“You live with your brother and his wife?”

“My father was lost two winters past—another warrior fallen guarding our lands.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.”

Amali sighed dismissively.

“I also lost my parents when I was very young...” Kass told her.

“I heard a rumour that your entire tribe was...massacred...”

“It’s true,” said Kass, keeping his tone even though the Rito proclivity for gossip aggravated him.

“No one would bring it up in conversation with you—” 

“Except for you apparently...”

“But I think they feel quite badly that you had to live without a home for so long.”

“I had a home...it was not among my people, but...I had one,” said Kass, thinking of all the times Olin had reminded him of this.

“Was it terribly unhappy?”

“No, not at all. The Sheikah were good to me, and my teacher cared for me until I was grown...and sometimes after.”

“But were you happy there?”

“No life is perfect happiness, so it’s important to relish the moments we have.”

“And meeting your people? Is that happiness?”

“You came here for music, right?” Kass deflected.

“It’s alright, you know. No one is very happy here...our lives are governed by duty to our people at the cost of our own happiness.”

Kass didn’t respond. Instead he began to play a tune which he was working on for a set of verses Olin had written.

oOo

Kass was not sure how he had ended up staying in the Rito Village for a moon’s turn. He was beginning to grow used to the minefield of Rito communications and had come to find it more fascinating than threatening. Kyvoro had been kind enough to allow him to remain as a guest in his home. Kass even found that he was adjusting to the cold climate, though this was probably helped by the clothing that he had acquired from Nekk. 

Kass found peaceful routine in his days. He played the accordion out on the stacks and slowly got to know the other Rito—especially Genik and Amali. The children of the village revelled in Kass’s tales of distant lands and unusual people. A favourite was the story of Death Mountain where Kass, Cyd, and their Goron hosts fought off fire-breath lizalfos.

“You make yourself out to be quite the warrior,” Harth remarked snidely, landing beside him as the children dispersed.

“You clearly were not present for the part where I hid from the flames behind the husk of a Guardian,” Kass said self-deprecatingly.

“You’ve failed to show up for combat exercises since you arrived,” said Harth.

“Kyvoro excused me on account of my injury.”

“Well, I’m here to extend the invitation to attend training with the novices.”

Kass didn’t like the way that Harth was grinning, but he secured his blade to his belt.

“Not that graceless hunk of metal.”

“I haven’t a bow,” said Kass, feeling rather defensive of the clear elegance of the Sheikah eightfold blade.

“Good thing my father is the bow maker,” said Harth, handing him an unstrung bow.

“I’m not an archer,” said Kass, turning the slender bow in his hands and following Harth up to Revali’s Landing.

“This is a swallow bow. I learned how to use it as a child. Lightweight, good for aerial combat.”

Kass said nothing, worrying that he was about to find himself at the centre of some youthful prank. He stood on the landing.

“You see those banners?” Harth asked, pointing toward the foothills of the Hebra range.

“Yes.”

“That’s the Flight Range, see if you’re young enough to keep up.”

“Why does everyone think I’m old?”

Kass’s question was lost in the wind as Harth had already taken off in a reckless plunge toward the lake before catching an upstream and drifting toward the Flight Range. If they thought he was old because he didn’t show off, then he would accept that; he was long past his youthful recklessness. Kass caught the wind and drifted a straight line to the Flight Range while Harth swooped about.

“We think you’re old because you’re stodgy,” said Harth.

“Right,” said Kass, “maybe I’m just well-mannered.”

Harth gave him a skeptical look as he flapped up to the Fight Range structure. Kass joined him to find Teba instructing a motley group of Rito in the throes of adolescence. Kass had the uncomfortable feeling they could all out shoot him.

“I was under the impression we would be training with Kyvoro,” said Kass quietly.

“Warriors train with Kyvoro,” said Harth, “you train with Teba.”

Harth called out to the group of young Rito and they strung their bows and leapt into the updrafts.

“I’m to teach you basic combat,” said Teba, gesturing that Kass should follow him to the nearby field of snow.

“I don’t want to disappoint you, but I have been trained in combat. I’ve even done a bit of archery.”

“You forget, I was there when you were rescued.”

“That was different...” protested Kass, thinking of how exhausted and frozen he had been.

“A warrior must be prepared at all times.”

“I’ll try it your way in the interest of peace,” said Kass, clumsily stringing the bow, “but I’m not a warrior, and I have no intention of becoming one.”

They practised basic aerial technique through the afternoon. Kass was loathe to admit—though he was not at all skilled—he sort of enjoyed drawing the bow in midair and falling for a bit before catching himself. Though he often reflected on how he had absorbed many Sheikah and Hylian mannerisms, he had never before been able to really see the things he had missed by growing up without Rito.

As they rested after the exercise, Kass decided he might have an opportunity to figure out Teba. Unlike Harth—who was impulsive, arrogant, and seemed to say exactly everything that crossed his mind—Teba seemed quietly angry yet strangely thoughtful and reserved.

“You and Saki are very young to be married,” said Kass, recognizing that these sorts of statements usually provoked strong reactions among the Rito.

“You’re very old not to be,” said Teba.

“Fair point.”

“Saki and I married on the advice of the elder. Both of us had lost our parents...and we all need to get on with re-population.”

“Do you believe that?”

“An outsider wouldn’t understand,” he said a little aggressively.

“I may be an outsider, but if this is what you believe then help me understand.”

Teba considered Kass for a moment before he seemed to decide that Kass’s request was a reasonable one.

“Our population has been shrinking since the Calamity. As you well know, the Rito have all but disappeared from this world. Many from across Hebra flocked here to escape the aftermath of that disaster. It was around that time that we decided to cut our bridges and with them our ties to the outside world to best ensure our safety.”

Teba paused.

“Isolation was a common response across Hyrule based on what I’ve read,” Kass prompted.

Teba gave Kass a look of annoyance and disbelief—perhaps at the idea that the Rito might have anything in common with the other peoples of Hyrule—but continued.

“We built higher into the pillar to accommodate the other Rito. The structure lasted for decades...but several years ago it collapsed in a windstorm.”

Teba looked far away, recalling the incident as though it were happening again before him.

“The new boardwalk peeled from the rock as easily as birch bark and took more than a dozen homes off the pillar with it...some Rito survived, but not many...the injuries which they sustained ended many lives in the days after. Now, most of the Rito who remain in this village can trace their common ancestors back to four or five Rito who initially settled here. That is why the elder interferes with marriage; he wants us have healthy offspring and that can only happen if we are careful in our mate selection.”

Kass nodded. Bearing this in mind, the Rito approach to marriage made more sense.

“We’re done,” said Teba, getting up to leave.

“Teba...thank you.”

Teba grumbled in response and took off in flight.

oOo

The winter had nearly ended, and still Kass stayed. He sometimes thought guiltily about Cyd waiting at Tabantha Bridge Stable, but it was easy to come up with excuses to stay in the village. Early one morning before sunrise, Kass awoke to Genik prodding his hammock from below.

“What? Where’s Kyvoro?” asked Kass, as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

“His brother—Harth’s father—left his feathers in the night. Kyvoro is sitting vigil.”

“You mean he’s died?”

Genik nodded.

“I’m very sorry,” said Kass.

“We have to prepare the tomb...the elder says if you are to stay you need to learn our ways.”

“Ah, right.”

Kass slid from his hammock and followed Genik out of the village to a series of caves that served at tombs. The wind howled through the many paths that had no doubt been eroded by underground rivers in a bygone age.

“Some think that the wind draws the spirit from the body,” said Genik, “and here you take your last flight to the Goddess.”

“Do you believe that?”

“I don’t know...how do Sheikah handle their dead?”

“The family spends their night in prayer over the body. In the morning there is a public cremation and the ashes are laid to rest in a burial ground marked only by stones.”

“That’s not really so different,” said Genik.

“I suppose not,” agreed Kass.

“Come. We must tidy this place so that the sensibilities of the mourners aren’t offended.”

Kass did as he was asked and collected the scattered bones with a strange detachment. He had seen sketches of skeletal structures of Hylians but knew so little about the inner workings of Rito that the exercise was as fascinating as it was grim. 

Through the whole thing Genik was acting strangely, sighing as though he meant to say something and could not. He moved with an anxious energy from one task to another without completing any. Kass dismissed it as grief over their fallen villager, and collected the bones that Genik missed.

“Kyvoro’s wife...she was once sent to do this and disappeared...just left. It was rumoured that she went to Gerudo Town to avoid the Rito who would force her to return.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Kass.

“I bring it up because...” Genik trailed off.

“Because?” Kass prompted after a pause.

“Maybe I want to run away from my spouse as well.”

“Your sister’s heart would be broken if you left,” said Kass.

“Amali is the only reason I stay. But Misa has another reason to keep me here now...”

“What’s...”

Genik fixed Kass with a meaningful look and Kass suddenly realized why Genik was in such a strange mood.

“Oh...Goddess, Genik. You’re going to be a father?”

Genik sat down on an empty ledge and held his wing over his face. Kass sat down beside him and wrapped a wing over his shoulders.

“I should be grieving the loss of Avill, but I fear I’m drowning in my own worries,” said Genik.

“It doesn’t have to be one thing or the other,” Kass told him.

Genik sighed and brushed his wing over his face harshly.

“If there’s something I can do to help you...” Kass offered.

“This is a poor time to mention it...but there might be.”

“What?”

“Avill approached me a few nights ago, asking if Amali would consent to marry Harth.”

“Oh,” said Kass, conflicted.

“Amali...is not overly fond of Harth...but if she found another suitable mate...”

“Please be blunt.”

“She likes you, and you’re not from our clan; the elder can’t object on those grounds.”

“So you are asking if I will marry your sister?”

“Yes.”

“This is really strange for me...normally there’s this whole period of courting...”

“Were you not courting her when you played music for her without supervision?”

“Was I?” asked Kass, taken aback that this might have been taken much less innocently among the Rito.

“I wasn’t there, I don’t know...I thought you enjoyed her company.”

“I do...though this seems like a conversation that I should probably have with her,” said Kass.

“That would be unusual...but I think it would be right for you.”

oOo

After the funeral—once more feeling his outsider status in a flock of grieving Rito—Kass left to the hollow stack to play is accordion. He was not surprised when Amali joined him.

“You spoke to my brother,” she said.

“I did.”

“Kass, stop playing...I want to talk.”

Kass set down his accordion.

“I did visit you here in hopes that you would want to court me.”

“Amali...I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t always understand the practices of your people.”

“Our people, Kass.”

The Rito did not really feel like Kass’s people, but he was not about to upset Amali when she so badly wished to include him.

“Pardon me if this sounds very blunt, but I think that may be the only way to cut through our cultural misunderstandings...are you in love with me?” he asked.

“I don’t know what being in love is about,” she said, “I’ve never known anyone to be in love...and anyone who was...they could not be together. I think it may be something from stories.”

“I don’t think so,” said Kass, remembering how he felt when Jerrin had brushed her nose across his beak.

“Well...could you love me?” she asked.

“You’ve very young, Amali,” protested Kass, wondering if they could bridge yet another gap in their experiences.

“Maybe it’s you who’s old.”

“Can we stop saying that? I’m really not old.”

“Kass, I’m of marriageable age. I have this rare opportunity to marry someone who is gentle and thoughtful and warm. And I like you! I like listening to you play and your stories and your company. Everyone here is so inward-looking and hot-headed...but you’re not like that...”

“I didn’t think I would get married. It never occurred to me that I could find another Rito...so this idea is...I won’t pretend I’ve never been in love because that would be disingenuous...but I—”

“Who could you have fallen in love with?” interrupted Amali, her face contorted with suspicion.

“A Sheikah woman.”

Amali looked a little disgusted. It saddened Kass to know that the Rito were just as narrow-minded as the Sheikah in this regard.

“If you can’t handle that knowledge, then I don’t know that you can accept my past. That love was kind...but not everything about my life has been.”

“I’m surprised, that’s all.”

“What do you want out of this arrangement?” Kass asked her.

“I’m a pragmatist. I can’t get out of the responsibility I owe to my people, nor do I want to. I want someone kind to spend my days with, someone who will raise children with me instead of leaving me to do it alone. I want something more then the men of this village can offer with their warrior’s code tripe.”

“When would we do this?”

“Never right after a funeral. We have to wait a moon’s turn.”

“I’ve already stayed here too long...I need to return to my friend at the stable...”

“You’ve had many opportunities. If you left now, no one would believe we had agreed to this.”

“I’ve only half agreed,” said Kass, “perhaps we ought to spend more time together.”

“What if I came with you?”

“To the stable? You would do that?”

“We should probably get to know each other better...the bridge is near enough to fly...and courting offers us much more alone time.”

“Alright,” agreed Kass, his heart hammering in his chest, “let’s go at dawn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t want to repeat too much of the second chapter of Turns our Hearts to Ice and Stone with the funeral stuff (I write far too many funerals as it is...). I’m in the midst of some serious reorganization of the next several chapters, but I will be posting as I get them together.


	17. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass and Amali make a daring journey to get to know one another better and make an overture to the Stable Association.

An hour before dawn, Kass collected his belongings from Kyvoro’s roost in silence.

“Kass,” came a soft, deep voice from the rafters as Kass tried to tiptoe from the roost.

“I thought you were asleep,” Kass whispered.

“I’m afraid I cannot. Are you leaving us?” 

“I’ll come back.”

“I know our customs are strange and overwhelming to you,” said Kyvoro, perhaps thinking that Kass had been scared away by the village’s grief.

“That’s not it,” said Kass, cautiously stepping towards his host’s hammock.

“I recognize that you haven’t been entirely happy here...I should stop you, but I find this is yet another thing I cannot do.”

“You’ve been so very kind to me, Kyvoro. I promise that you will see me again.”

“You’d best be on your way then.”

Kass did not hesitate. He hastened down the boardwalk in the quiet darkness and met Amali on Revali’s landing.

“Were you seen?” she asked.

“By Kyvoro...but he didn’t try to stop me.”

“Genik and Misa were asleep. I left Genik a note so that he doesn’t worry,” she said.

“Alright then,” said Kass, anticipation building in his chest, “shall we?”

They took off from an east-facing landing in the dark of the early morning. As they travelled, the sun rose, its broadening rays bathing the world with warm light. The ground beneath them was damp with melting snow when they landed atop a rock formation near a small bridge of rotted wood. In the bright sun and warming spring air, Kass felt exhilarated by the freedom.

“This is the farthest I’ve ever ventured,” said Amali excitedly.

Kass thought that she looked happier than any Rito he had yet seen. Impulsively, he reached out to grip her hand.

“What is this?” she asked, staring at his hand in hers.

“A gesture of affection.”

She leaned in close to him and ran the tip of her beak through the feathers on his neck. He shivered at the sensation.

“This is how we show affection,” she said.

“That’s nice too,” said Kass, feeling a little giddy.

“Do you think they can see us from here?” Amali asked, glancing back at the pillar.

“If you’re worried, you can still go back.”

“And let you get away? Not a chance!”

Kass had trouble suppressing a smile at her enthusiasm.

They set off once more. In the afternoon they rested atop a pair of crooked pillars in a complex of ancient Sheikah ruins. They ate a few provisions and watched the oblivious moblins which stalked below them.

“What if they see us?” whispered Amali.

“Then we fly. As long as you’re out of arms reach you’re probably safe.”

“Probably?”

“Travelling isn’t without risk.”

“But it is wonderful isn’t it?”

Kass could think of a few terrible journeys he had had in his day, but glancing at Amali’s elated expression, he decided that this did not count among them.

They arrived at Tabantha Bridge Stable shortly before sunset. Unsurprisingly, they attracted attention from guests and stable staff alike. Kass was used to the stares of Hylians, but Amali grew self-conscious and stood close to Kass. She stared back at the Hylians with similar curiosity; they were clearly as strange to her as she was to them.

“You’ve returned,” Dabi said when Kass approached the counter.

“Cyd?” Kass asked.

“What of him?”

“Has he left?”

“A long time ago.”

“When precisely?” Kass asked, irritated at the manager’s reticence.

“Nearly a moon’s turn,”said Dabi as he retreated to the inside counter.

“Did he leave any word of where he would be going?” Kass pressed, following him into the inn.

“He said Gerudo Town. I warned him that they would never admit him, but he didn’t seem to care.”

Kass sighed; of course Cyd would seek out Silda and Erie.

“That was a rotten thing you did, Kass.”

Kass stared at the manager in silent shock. He felt enough guilt over Cyd on his own.

“We need two beds for the night,” Kass said stiffly.

“Only have one,” said Dabi.

“A bed for my companion then,” Kass amended, pushing his payment across the wooden counter.

Kass left the desk and Amali followed him as he flew to the rock formation behind the stable to cool off from his interaction with the stable manager. He perched near the shrine and stared out at the red mesas in the distance. Perhaps if he had been more patient, Cyd could have joined him...though he could have never gained any sort of entrance to the village travelling with Cyd. Kass felt torn as Amali sat down beside him.

“Your friend left.”

“As I feared he would,” said Kass dejectedly.

“What do we do now?”

“You should go back. Tomorrow.”

“On my own?” asked Amali, offended.

“I made a promise to someone that I would return after I found the Rito.”

“Your friend’s gone, Kass.”

“To my teacher.”

“You know, I may face discipline for leaving without permission...”

“This was your idea. We have to go back eventually.”

“Eventually.”

“Come with me then...I need to return to my teacher before I commit the rest of my life to the Rito. He deserves to know my plans...and if we’re to marry you ought to meet him.”

“Alright,” Amali agreed, happy that they would continue their journey.

Despite his anticipation of seeing Olin again, Kass’s heart remained heavy. Amali shifted a little closer to him.

“You seem very upset over the Hylian.”

“I am,” said Kass, vowing to be as transparent with Amali as he could.

“This is strange to me.”

“You have close friends among the Rito—Saki and Antilli. This is not any different.”

“Come,” she said, taking his wing, “you must be tired. Let’s have something to eat and rest for the night.”

“The bed is for you...I’ll just rest by the cooking pot,” he said, allowing himself to be coaxed to his feet.

“I’ll share with you,” she said.

“I think that would make the Hylians very uncomfortable,” Kass protested, surprised.

“As it turns out, I’ve never given a thought to the opinions of Hylians.”

“I don’t know much about Rito courting...but that would be strongly frowned upon where I come from.”

“This hasn’t anything to do with courting,” said Amali, confused.

“It’s only that...sharing a bed with someone of the opposite sex is highly suggestive.”

Amali looked at him, confused and somewhat annoyed.

“Of...intimacy,” Kass clarified.

“Intimacy?”

“Sex.”

“Oh, I see. Among Hylians these are the same thing,” Amali realized.

Among Rito they weren’t? Now it was Kass’s turn to feel ignorant. That dratted book that Olin had made him look at had explained the procreative act, but nothing of Rito sexuality. When he thought back as far as he could, the only memories he had of adult Rito expressing affection were his parents touching their beaks together. He suddenly realized he was in a minefield of customs he did not know.

“Kass,” said Amali, seeing his panicked expression.

She grasped both of his wings and turned him to face her. Kass absently rubbed at his beak, trying to hide his discomfort.

“Amali, I’m afraid that I know nothing of what an adult Rito should know about such matters.”

“How could you be expected to?” she asked.

He had almost expected laughter, but she looked quite serious.

“I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” she said.

Kass huffed an embarrassed laugh and looked away.

“Kass, we must take care of each other,” she said quite seriously, “that is what we are meant to demonstrate in this courting period—the things we bring to a marriage.”

“I wonder if perhaps you’re in over your head with me—unless you are just looking for someone of a distant bloodline with whom to have children,” he said.

“Doesn’t hurt that you’re not bad to look at,” she said, her eyes gleaming.

Kass smiled and she gently nudged her beak against his.

“This is the kind of affection you show the person you intend to marry,” she told him softly.

Kass returned the gesture warmly. She returned his happy expression and led him back down to the stable. 

No one could dispute how crowded the stable was that night. Kass and Amali went mostly ignored by the other guests, some of whom had also doubled up in the other beds. Kass lay with his back to Amali who fidgeted in the Hylian bed. In the darkest hour of the night she turned and slid her wing over him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his body growing hot from the contact.

“This bed is mightily uncomfortable,” she whispered, pressing on his shoulder so that he rolled onto his back.

“Is this more comfortable?” Kass asked apprehensively.

Amali laid her head on his chest and brushed her hand through his feathers in what he supposed was meant to be a calming gesture. Her fingers found the scarred tissue that was usually not visible for his feathers.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“A bokoblin bit me...my friends kept me from bleeding to death...” he couldn’t bear to recall the details aloud.

“The Hylians?”

“Yes.”

“You really _aren’t_ much of a warrior.”

“More of a poet...”

“I’ve never heard of a Rito poet,” she said, gently running her beak through the feathers on Kass’s neck.

Kass closed his eyes; he had never felt affection like this. Was this a normal part of Rito courting? He felt he had no way to know save for asking Amali, and he didn’t want to do that right now.

“You should sleep, Kass,” she whispered, settling her head against his shoulder.

He put a wing around her. He didn’t know how he was expected to sleep like this. The pleasantness of having another Rito—especially Amali—so near threatened to overwhelm him. He rested his head against hers and did his best to close his eyes.

oOo

Amali had been shocked, but on reflection not surprised by Kass’s ignorance of Rito romantic customs. She would have thought for his age he would have had some idea of how couples express intimate affection, but he was nearly as clueless as a hatchling. As they flew by the strange, mushrooming pillars of Ridgeland, she wondered idly what exactly he had done with that Sheikah love of his before deciding she would rather not know.

They reached Riverside Stable late in the evening. Kass joined Amali on the dock after securing beds for the night. She was half disappointed that he had got two, though sharing one had been a bit of a squeeze and rather sleepless if she was honest.

“I used to work here when I was young,” he said, sitting down beside her.

“Doing what?” she asked.

“Whatever I was told to, but mostly raking horse manure...keeping up the appearance of the place.”

“That sounds unpleasant,” she said, unable to imagine a Rito stooping to clear away the waste of another being.

“It’s a common enough occupation among Hylians.”

“There are a lot of these stables?” Amali asked.

“Yes, they’re all run by the same group of people.”

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, “what if there were a stable nearer to Rito Village?”

Kass considered it for a moment.

“If there are any other Rito left in this world, it might draw them to Rito Village,” he said.

“I thought the same. If there had been a stable there you would have found us long ago.”

“There weren’t really that many stables out that way until recently...but...I would have,” he agreed.

“Since you arrived, Kaneli sometimes talks about looking for ways to reestablish connections with Hylians.”

“How do you know that?” asked Kass.

“Because Teba and Harth talk about what a terrible idea it is all of the time.”

“Is it such a terrible idea?”

“I don’t think so,” she said, “Teba and Harth have been idiots as long as I can remember. Genik said he liked the idea, but I think he just wants to meet Hylians.”

“You could have trade with other villages.”

“ _We_ , Kass. You’re a part of us now.”

“Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever really be a part of the village.”

Amali ran her beak over Kass’s neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She was pleased when he wrapped his wing around her.

“You’ll be a part of my family,” she said, “and that will make you a part of the village.”

He rested his beak on her head.

“Perhaps they’ll even stop referring to me as ‘the foreigner’,” said Kass dryly.

“Well...your exotic beauty does rather stand out against our plain men.”

“I’m more than a pretty face, you know,” he said good-naturedly.

“So how do we get a stable?” Amali asked.

“I could write to someone,” Kass suggested.

“Really?”

“He’s...not a nice man, but he is the person who gets the stables set up. I don’t know whether or not it would interest him.”

“Well, you must write him and see!”

“Should we really be doing this without the input of the village? What if the Hylians want it and the Rito don’t?”

“We’ll convince them. Go on, Kass. You’re simply gauging the Hylians’ interest.”

“I suppose...”

“We can always beg forgiveness later.”

“Or start a conflict between the Rito and the Hylians...”

“Let this be the first step in reuniting the Rito with the rest of Hyrule,” she urged.

“I’ll send a message when we get to Kakariko Village,” Kass acquiesced. 

oOo

Olin sat with Impa in low chairs on the balcony of her residence. His hand shook on the knobbly wood of the polished walking-stick he now used for even the shortest walks across the village. He looked out at the peaceful existence of the villagers. Steen sparred with Dorian on the grass below, while Cado stood watch at the foot of the staircase. Farther afield, Olin saw Olkin tending his garden and Mellie pruning the dead branches from one of her plum trees.

“What did you hope for when you took your place as leader here?” Olin asked Impa.

“For my people to quash their impertinent questions before they uttered them.”

“Your wit is very like your sister’s.”

“That sounded like an insult.”

“In the interest of our long-standing friendship, might we have a conversation that isn’t riddled with avoidances?”

Impa looked sombre.

“I was concerned only with the survival of the knowledge of our people. I knew that it had to be passed on to future generations...and that we must have future generations.”

“You did well. We have been safe here.”

“The day of Resurrection nears, I am sure...though not nearly quickly enough for us I should think,” said Impa, sadness colouring her usually impassive tone. 

“Someone must be left to meet him,” agreed Olin, “though I fear it will not be me...perhaps that is for the best...”

“Your writing?”

“I have completed the translations of the Shrine Scrolls, though they are inscrutable even in the common tongue and a great deal seems to be missing.”

“It would do you well to choose a successor to your knowledge.”

Olin sighed; he could not imagine placing this burden upon the shoulders of another.

“My mother shared a vision once,” Olin told Impa, “she said I was doomed to climb a mountain with a heavy load and never reach the top—” 

“Goddess,” remarked Impa as their conversation was interrupted by two Rito landing near the pond.

“Kass...” Olin breathed, seeing his pupil and the Rito who accompanied him, “Hylia, you’ve done it.”

“I did not imagine that I would see the day,” said Impa, a ghost of a smile in the creases around her eyes.

Olin slowly descended the stairs to meet Kass. Kass looked elated, and closed the distance to Olin with quick strides. No longer able to reach Kass’s face he rested his hand on his pupil’s chest. He gripped the Rito’s clothes, full of emotion.

“Oh, my boy, I did so worry about you.”

“I found them,” said Kass, covering Olin’s hand with his own.

“I’m so glad that you did.”

“This is Amali,” he said drawing the other Rito forward by the wing, “we’re to be married.”

Kass looked a little disbelieving at the pronouncement himself, but Olin turned to welcome her anyway. The relief that Kass would not be left to live his life in loneliness hit Olin with an emotional force that he had not felt in years. He tried to surreptitiously wipe his eyes.

“Good to meet you, Amali,” he said, reaching out to grasp her hand, “I’m pleased that Kass has you.”

“I’m glad to have met him as well,” she said, glancing at Kass affectionately.

“Lady Impa,” said Kass, climbing the stairs and bowing his head, “I wonder if I might impose upon you. I have a letter that I wish to send to Hateno.”

“Of course,” agreed Impa.

oOo

Kass and Amali stayed with Olin in his cottage while they were in Kakariko. Kass had been so elated to see his teacher once again, but found every interaction with him to be one of heartbreak. Olin shuffled through the cottage, his hand coming to rest on Kass’s wing as though he needed assurance that he had indeed returned home.

Kass helped Olin with a few things that needed doing around the cottage. He often noticed a strange expression on Amali’s face as she watched him caring for his teacher. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but one time as he wrapped a wing around his wizened teacher, he thought he saw her wiping tears from her eyes.

A fortnight into their visit, Kass saw to a few repairs to the roof. The damage to the thatching had sat untouched since winter. Amali sat on the roof, soaking up the sun, while Kass pulled away the damaged reeds and tied the new bundles in place.

“I’m impressed by your abilities,” said Amali.

“I’m sorry?”

“The Rito seem to believe that you can barely function because you cannot use a bow—”

“I can use a bow...” he said, feeling rather indignant that that continued to be the standard by which Rito men were measured.

“But outside of our village, it is clear that you have many talents.”

“Thank you...” said Kass suspiciously, “although it is not for your benefit that I’m doing these things...”

“It would be a very normal part of courting to show your perspective mate what you can offer.”

“I suspect I won’t be doing much thatching in Rito Village.”

“I’m impressed nonetheless.”

“I’m doing this for Olin,” said Kass, thinking of the times Olin had sent him up here in the winter.

“That’s the part that impresses me,” she said sincerely. 

“Kass!” came a call from below.

Kass peeked over the edge of the roof to see Dorian calling to him.

“You’ve had a letter,” he said.

Kass came down from the roof and took the letter from Dorian. Amali landed beside him.

“It’s from Nikalph,” Kass told her, “he’s approved the project and has set a date to set out from Tabantha Bridge Stable...”

“But the Rito don’t even know about this!”

“I suppose we really shall have to beg for forgiveness now...I should have known that he would skip the consultation and just forge ahead,” said Kass, frustrated.

“I know that Kaneli will be on our side with this...he wants better trade connections.”

“But how do we convince the Rito that their voices matter when they believe Hylians are running roughshod over their land?”

“There are clear benefits to the stable in our lands. We have to hurry back before Nikalph sets things in motion.”

“Oh...” Kass knew she was right, but his heart sank at the thought of leaving so abruptly.

“Kass?”

“We should...of course leave now.”

“We’ve been here for half a moon’s turn.”

“I’ll let Olin know...”

Kass hesitantly entered Olin’s cottage, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness after having been out in the beautiful spring sunshine. His teacher worked away at his desk.

“Is it mid-day already?” asked Olin, replacing his stylus in its inkwell.

“No, not yet. We...have to leave,” said Kass.

“Already?” asked Olin, his disappointment evident on his face.

Kass nodded and he and Amali collected their things. Amali shared a glance with Kass. She bid Olin thanks for his hospitality and went to wait outside of the cottage so Kass might have a moment alone to say farewell to Olin.

Kass stood before his teacher. His usual fears that he might leave and never see him again had their icy grip on his heart.

“So...you intend to live among the Rito,” said Olin.

“Yes,” said Kass, though his voice caught in his throat.

“This is good, Kass. You have searched for a home for so long.”

“I do intend to make it my home,” said Kass, though he felt that Rito Village could never be the home that Olin’s little cottage had been.

“Then I suppose, it is unlikely that we will see each other for quite some time.”

At Olin’s statement Kass lost his nerve and sat down at the table and covered his face. Olin came to his side and put his arms around him, stroking his feathers. Kass felt as lost as he had as a child.

“I don’t want to go,” said Kass, desperately holding onto his teacher.

“You must go out on your own; you no longer need me,” Olin soothed him.

“That’s not true! I don’t know how to live among them! All the time I wish for your guidance!”

“And I wish I could give you it, but my dear boy...” 

Olin wiped his own tears from his wrinkled face with ink-stained fingers and cupped Kass’s face. Kass had never seen Olin shed tears before and the sight made it impossible for him to blink back his own.

“Oh...Kass. It’s time for you to live! Amali is clever and kind; go spend your life in happiness with her! You will learn how to live among your people as you have learned to live among Sheikah and Hylians. Go be with your people and have the love of family in your life! Do what I was always too afraid to do!”

Kass nodded, sucking in his breath and wiping his eyes as he rose from his seat.

“I shall take every lesson you taught me wherever I go,” he said, wrapping his wings around Olin.

“Just take care of yourself,” Olin’s lips tightened as he held back the tears which built in his eyes, “my dear boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went through about 4 versions of this chapter and the next; they were once one one chapter that went way too fast...still not sure if I’m totally happy with it. Kass will continue to run into the customs of the Rito that confuse the heck out of him.


	18. Change on the Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass and Amali make their return to Rito Village with an important proposal. The Rito hold a village meeting.

Amali had been pleasantly surprised by the hospitality of the Sheikah, even if Hylians on the road were wary of them. The adventure of leaving Rito Village with Kass had been exhilarating. The longer she travelled with him the more she found him to be excellent company, knowledgeable, and kind-hearted. Seeing how good he was to his aging teacher had filled Amali with a feeling that she had never experienced among the Rito; the men of her tribe were rarely so tender.

They had made it back to Tabantha Bridge Stable without incident, though Kass had been rather downcast as they left Kakariko Village. She had heard him quietly weeping in his stable bed that night and she suddenly felt terrible for taking him from his home. He did not mention anything the next day—and Amali was not about to bring it up—so they carried on with their journey as usual.

In Tabantha Bridge Stable, she and Kass sat at the table as they went over the plan together. The presence of a stable so near the Rito village would improve trade in the region and hopefully strengthen Rito-Hylian relations. They only had one opportunity to convince the Rito of the benefits of their plan before the Hylians decided to go ahead without Rito permission.

“They are so distrustful of Hylians,” worried Amali, “I doubt most of the village would be receptive to it, even if Kaneli joins our cause.”

“Kass.”

Amali looked up to see two Hylian women standing near the desk. One looked to be suppressing her anger. The other wore an eye patch over her left eye and an unreadable expression.

“Silda, Erie,” Kass said rising to greet them, “I didn’t think that Nikalph would get word to you so quickly.”

“You didn’t keep your promise.”

“Erie...”

“Let’s just keep this about business. I don’t want to catch up.”

“Cyd’s outside,” said the one with the eye patch, who Amali deduced was Silda.

Kass left the stable and Amali rolled the papers and placed them in Kass’s leather map-case. She stood and approached Silda and Erie.

“I’m Amali,” she greeted them, “Kass has told me a great deal about you.”

“Good to meet you,” said Erie stiffly.

Silda just nodded.

“Excuse me,” Amali said, following Kass’s example and heading outside.

Kass was speaking to a Hylian with pitted scars on his cheeks. They were accentuated by the grin that creased his face as he wrapped his arms around Kass. Amali approached, cautiously.

“Goddess, I thought you had died,” Cyd said, his hands on Kass’s shoulders.

“Only nearly...”

“I was so furious at you when I left.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t make it back. I was injured on the journey.”

Even from where she stood, Amali recognized the tone Kass’s voice took when he lied to spare the feelings of others.

“Have you ever made a journey where you weren’t?” scoffed Cyd.

“I’m certain I must have made some...”

A woman who was slightly taller than Cyd with sun-bronzed skin and a single white streak in her bright red hair came to join them.

“Sav’saaba.”

“This is Murera, my wife. I met her...well...”

“I saved this foolish _voe_ from a nest of lizard-creatures,” Murera clarified, fine lines around her eyes crinkling as she smiled.

“Congratulations! I’m happy for you,” said Kass.

“You leaving...Erie’s probably not going to let it go...she worries,” said Cyd, “but I want you to know...I understand why you had to go.”

Kass placed his hand on Cyd’s shoulder and looked grateful. Amali was hesitant to break up this reunion—partially because she found Kass’s adoption of Hylian mannerisms extremely fascinating—but they would need time to prepare the village before the stable was set up.

“Kass...we need to fly out,” she told him.

“We’ll meet again soon,” Kass told Cyd.

“I hope you’re right this time.”

Amali and Kass flew to the top of the mushroom pillar above the stable. She glanced at Kass out of the corner of hey eye, admiring the way the setting sun shone iridescently off his feathers. In this moment she realized how much she had grown to adore his gentle face.

“What is the typical punishment for leaving the village without permission?” Kass asked.

“When someone is being punished, the village assembles four arbiters to decide on a punishment to fit the crime. Usually a period of exile is recommended, but for leaving the village...”

“Would they interfere with our betrothal?”

“I certainly hope not.”

“This journey...I’ve become quite fond of you,” said Kass, “I would hate for the village to come between us.”

“I feel the same,” she said, “we should go.”

oOo

Amali and Kass made it to Revali’s Landing just before dawn. Most of the lanterns in the roosts had been extinguished for the night, but Kass could see one twinkling in Genik and Misa’s roost.

“We should reassure my brother that we are alive and well,” whispered Amali.

Kass nodded and she led the way to the roost she shared with her brother and his wife. Kass was surprised to find Genik sitting on the floor, asleep against the back railing of the roost. He seemed to be holding something in his lap under a thick blanket. 

Kass was slow to realize that it must be the egg, recalling Olin’s dreaded book on reproduction. He found himself wishing that he had paid closer attention to its content—Kass realized that though he had a good idea of the mechanics of the whole thing, he didn’t know much about the practices of egg incubation.

“Genik,” whispered Amali, placing her wing over her brother’s to avoid startling him into dropping the egg.

Genik’s head came up with a gasp. His eyes were bleary and his feathers dishevelled.

“Amali...Kass...”

“Are we in a lot of trouble?” asked Amali.

“After you didn’t come back right away...I told them you were going to meet Kass’s adopted family as a part of your engagement...”

“So...?”

“Meeting your betrothed’s family was a permissible excuse for leaving...though you should have mentioned it to Kaneli...tell me you haven’t changed your mind?”

“Of course not, we still intend to marry,” said Amali.

Kass came to crouch on Genik’s other side. Up close he could see that Genik looked exhausted. Above them, Misa was sleeping like the dead in her hammock. Evidently, incubating this egg was taking its toll on them.

“Kass, I’m quite furious with you,” Genik said bluntly.

“It was my idea to go! Don’t be angry with Kass,” said Amali.

“And where did you go? What did you do?”

“Long story...” said Amali.

“We did visit with my teacher in Kakariko Village...he’s the closest thing I have to family.”

“At least you haven’t made a liar out of me,” Genik said, resting his head back against the half-wall of the roost.

“Have you eaten?” Amali asked her brother, “let me bring you something.”

Amali left the roost and Kass sat down beside Genik.

“This is...unfamiliar ground for me,” said Kass, “but are you alright?”

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Genik told him, his eyes closed.

“You’re nearly there,” Kass tried to reassure him, though he couldn’t remember if the book had covered length of incubation periods...

“Misa will be up soon, then I can rest...”

Kass sat beside Genik in silence as the latter fidgeted, trying to find a comfortable way to hold the egg.

“I think I’m losing my mind...there’s something wrong with me,” Genik said quietly.

“Why?”

“Everyone who drops by tells me how lucky we are...how happy they are for us...I don’t feel that...”

“How long have you been sitting here?” Kass asked, concerned.

“Since sunset.”

Kass stood, worried both for Genik and the egg. His friend seemed overtired and was hardly excited about fatherhood at the best of times. Kass made a decision; Genik was in desperate need of a break from this.

“What are you doing?” Genik asked in alarm as Kass stood and approached Misa.

“Misa,” said Kass, pushing gently on the side of her hammock.

“Kass, stop,” Genik hissed.

“I’m still sleeping,” Misa said not opening her eyes.

“Your husband needs a rest,” said Kass.

Misa opened her eyes and sat up, alarmed to find it was not a member of her household waking her.

“What are you doing in my home?”

“Speaking to my betrothed’s brother. I think he needs some time,” said Kass, glancing toward Genik.

“I see,” said Misa, “Goddess forbid I should have a night’s sleep.”

Misa slid from her hammock and sat down beside Genik, carefully taking the egg and blanket. Kass pulled Genik to his feet. Genik had cast his leather layer aside to improve heat-transfer to the egg. He self-consciously adjusted his sash over the bald patch that had developed on his abdomen.

“Return soon?” Misa begged.

She looked nearly as desperate as Genik had. Genik nodded, though he looked as though he would be happier diving into a bokoblin colony wearing a blindfold and an outfit of raw meat.

“I’m glad you got me out of there,” he told Kass as they climbed the boardwalk.

“Are you and Misa...are you feeling a little overburdened with this responsibility?” Kass asked carefully.

“We try to split it evenly,” he said, “but my mind feels like it’s full of moss; I haven’t been to practice or hunt in days...all I do when I’m not holding that egg is sleep!”

Genik seemed paranoid and kept turning his head as though he was hearing something. Kass carefully placed a hand on his shoulder and Genik flinched in surprise.

“You’re not yourself right now,” said Kass, “is there anything I can do to help you?”

“I need to get out of here for a bit...”

Though Kass did not necessarily condone leaving Misa alone with the egg, he couldn’t help but agree that Genik needed a little space. Kass pondered this as they approached the cooking pot.

“I can’t possibly eat,” said Genik.

“Don’t be stupid; you’re shaking,” Amali said, handing him a plate of steamed salmon.

The three of them rested on the landing below as they ate. Kass didn’t want to press Genik in front of his sister, so the three of them ate in relative silence. When they had finished, Genik sighed and reluctantly returned to Misa and their unhatched offspring just as the sky began to brighten.

“This is a little embarrassing,” Kass quietly admitted to Amali, “but—having grown up among Sheikah—I know very little about eggs.”

“...ahm...” 

“I know where they come from,” Kass clarified, his skin growing warm under his feathers.

“So what are you asking?”

“How long before they hatch?”

“Oh...they hatch around four turns of the moon.”

“So Genik and Misa have little a while to go yet...”

“Brooding can be a stressful period for couples,” Amali told him.

“I’m concerned about Genik,” Kass admitted as they began to head up to boardwalk to Kaneli’s roost.

“This is...pretty normal for Genik...aside from incubating the egg.”

“How do you mean?”

“He’s restless and unhappy. I’ve never known him to be anything but, even when we were young.”

“I see.”

“He likes you, though. He was quite briefly—”

“Amali,” interrupted Harth.

Harth was on his was down from Kaneli’s roost, looking quite agitated. Kass was not surprised to see that Teba followed a few steps behind him. 

“Harth,” Amali greeted him politely.

Harth’s expression was one of ire as his eyes came to rest on Kass.

“I suppose I’m to congratulate you two on your upcoming nuptials,” he said snidely.

“Something funny, Harth?” Kass asked evenly.

“Not very.”

“Then thanks, I suppose,” said Amali, her eyes narrowed at the tone Harth had taken.

Harth looked like he wanted to say something more, but Teba clamped a hand on his shoulder and steered him down the stairs.

“We have things to see to,” Teba reminded him irritably.

“That was strange,” said Amali as they disappeared out of sight, “did you think that was strange?”

Kass nodded, though he wondered if Harth was acting this way because his endeavour to court Amali had been thwarted. Kass was unsure if Amali was even aware of attempted arrangement that her brother had impeded.

oOo

When Kass proposed the idea of the stable to Kaneli, the elder was actually quite pleased about it, but that was not how things were done in Rito Village. Kass was fascinated by the prospect of a village meeting. The idea that the entire village would discuss a proposal seemed quite novel to Kass, who was used to deferring to Impa in Kakariko Village and Nikalph when he worked for the Stable Association.

That afternoon the Rito gathered on the grassy plateau at the foot of the village. Kass was disappointed to see that Genik had remained behind at his roost with the egg and Misa had come in their stead; he was not entirely sure where she stood on the matter. He looked over at Amali as Kaneli stood on the stairs to address the Rito gathered there. Amali looked worried.

“What?” he asked her.

“I think this is going to go badly,” she said.

“I have gathered you here to consider a proposal brought forth by Kass on behalf of the Hylians,” announced Kaneli.

A suspicious ripple of chatter from the villagers followed the announcement. Amali wound her wing through Kass’s and stood close to him.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“A gesture,” she whispered.

Kass was not surprised to see Harth seething beside Teba, his eyes locked on Kass. Kass dreaded the day that he might have to deal with Harth’s jealousy.

Kaneli continued, “the Hylians wish to build a stable in our lands so that they may once again trade with us and safely travel here.”

“What is it that the Hylians have that we would want?” someone shouted through the building chatter.

“I am loathe to admit it,” said Kyvoro, “but the Hylians have better metal-smiths among them than we could hope to have.”

“We fight with bows,” Harth dismissed the idea.

“As do Hylians,” said Kass quickly, “it is not inconceivable that they might wish to purchase yours.”

“If they could wield them,” said Harth arrogantly.

“And give them the weapons with which to slaughter us?” said Teba, pointedly looking directly at Kass.

Kass’s blood ran cold and he wondered if Teba had been holding back that particular barb with the tropical Rito tribe in mind.

“It’s not merely Hylian goods which we could gain access to,” Amali said, stepping in, “merchants carry goods from the Gerudo, the Sheikah, and the Gorons. That means different foods, spices, elixirs.”

This pronouncement brought more chatter, though it sounded less hostile.

“I could treat many more maladies if only I had the ingredients in my family’s books,” said Saki over the murmur.

“Would we then have to accommodate all of these strangers?” complained Nekk, the tailor.

“Hylians don’t often travel to such cold lands. You would sell more clothing than you could ever imagine if you cut them for Hylians,” suggested Kass.

“And what do we do when they attack us?”

Kass was surprised by what seemed like incredible ignorance of Hylians...but perhaps the Rito were recalling whatever version they had heard of what had happened to Kass.

“Hylians already cross our lands,” said Kyvoro, “they are largely uninterested in our village.”

“Have you really spoken to Hylians?” asked Laissa, a curious adolescent.

“I have,” said Kyvoro, “they are interested in their frivolous pursuits in the mountains and bear us no ill will.” 

“But it is true that many Hylians regard us with suspicion,” said Teba, narrowing his eyes at Kass.

“I’m sorry to have to point out, Teba, but Hylians cannot fly and would find it difficult to reach our village without a bridge,” Amali said with something rather sharper than diplomacy.

“There is precedent for the cooperative efforts of Rito and Hylians,” said Kass, “before the Calamity—”

“The Calamity was a life-age ago!” 

“The world has changed!”

The assembled were muttering again.

“A stable once rested on the outskirts of the village,” said Kass over the din, “and it brought the Rito prosperity to be a part of Hyrule.”

“Go back to your mammals!”

“You’re like a feathered Hylian!”

“You take that back!” Amali shouted, shoving a youth with soot-black feathers against a tree.

“Amali!” Kass exclaimed in shock at her violent defence of him.

Kyvoro stepped close to Kass, fixing the nearest Rito with a warning glare. Kass was grateful that Kyvoro was blocking his view to the crowd because he was having trouble hiding the shock and hurt that lanced him through upon hearing these insults.

“Amali and Mimo; you are ejected from this meeting,” said Kaneli, calling for order.

As the crowd settled and Amali and Mimo retreated back into the village, Misa stepped up to a lower stair.

“Trade with the Hylians offers us a chance to improve our lives,” Misa announced.

“We don’t need their trade...” someone protested.

“We have lived on diets of fish alone for decades. I for one would enjoy the pleasures that are recorded in the cookbooks of our ancestors,” said Misa.

“Food doesn’t seem enough reason to allow Hylians to camp on our doorstep,” protested Harth.

“Then listen carefully, Harth.” said Kyvoro, “Monsters run rampant through our lands and we are but a few...to have the help of the Hylians in defending our territories would be to our advantage.”

Kass was surprised that two strong voices in the community had come out in favour of his proposal.

“And if the Hylians bear us ill will?” called Harth.

“Then they will not be able to reach us here without a bridge,” said Kyvoro, “are you not listening?”

The Rito deliberated on and on. Kass was fairly sure the Gorons had not debated whether or not to embrace the stable for so long if they even had at all. Though, he had observed that Gorons were not at all distrusting. Perhaps it was because their bodies were as tough as the rocks they ate; they had little to fear from the other races of Hyrule. 

Kass pushed through the crowd to stand on the stairs so that he would be heard.

“Your isolation is killing you,” said Kass.

“It is the only thing keeping us alive!” said Teba loudly.

“No,” said Kass, “I searched for many years before I found this place. I was lucky; I had maps from the Sheikah which marked the old settlements of the Rito. If there are other Rito out there we must make ourselves visible to them. The Hylians have been far more successful at forging connections between their settlements than we have and their population shows it! Let us join with them and send a clear message that we are here!”

The murmur arose once again. 

“Kass is right,” said Kyvoro, “if we do not find other Rito to help rebuild our population we will be bred out of existence in a matter of a few generations.”

When no one raised any further points, Kaneli called for a vote. Kass was surprised to see by the numbers that the Rito did indeed favour reestablishing contact with the rest of Hyrule even though it seemed as though those opposed had the loudest voices.

“We will send word to the Hylians that we are interested in their proposal,” said Kaneli, then turning to Kass he said, “well done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave some love and stay safe <3


	19. Between Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust is slowly built between Rito and Hylians in the convoy. Kass feels that he might not be suited to a career in diplomacy.

“I don’t know how you managed this, Kass,” Cyd said, “we would have never made it past the bridge without help.”

The sun was setting. The caravan organized the covered wagons and set up tents in an ancient Sheikah ruin at the base of Piper Hill that they had wrested from the control of an unexpected colony of monsters.

“We may make a warrior of him yet,” teased Genik.

“It’s Kyvoro you should be thanking,” Kass told Cyd, “it was he who agreed that you should have a Rito guard to cross Rito lands.”

“He’s not much of a talker,” said Cyd.

When the convoy had set out from Tabantha Bridge Stable, Kass had agreed to join the scouting team once more. Nikalph had also hired Genik and Kyvoro on Kass’s recommendation. It was a good thing that all parties had agreed on the increased security; the road had been treacherous so far and they been on it for only a day.

Murera wiped the moblin blood from her scimitar as she sat down beside Cyd. Cyd put an arm around her and she settled comfortably against him. Kass was more glad for Cyd’s happiness than he had ever been for another person.

“This one looks at me strangely,” Murera said, her eyes landing on Kyvoro.

Kyvoro sat alone on a boulder, fletching arrows. Kass thought that Kyvoro looked at everyone strangely; even though he was in favour of the burgeoning alliance, he was not accustomed to the company of non-Rito, and did not find them as fascinating as Genik did.

“I think I’ll join him,” said Genik, leaving the group to sit with Kyvoro.

“Kass, what’s with the...” Cyd made a gesture towards his own stomach, a clear reference to Genik’s bald patch.

“He has an egg at home,” said Kass, irritated that Genik had opted to join them and left his sister to help his wife.

That didn’t seem to clear anything up for Cyd, but Kass was saved from answering by Erie who pulled him away from the fire by his wing.

“I need to speak to you,” she said in a low voice.

“Really?” asked Kass, a little suspicious since she had made a point of avoiding Kass in the days leading up to the expedition.

“Privately,” she said.

She and Kass walked a short distance down the pass. The cool wind soughed between the rock walls.

“I really want to trust you, Kass. I need to trust you.”

“I can’t go over this again, Erie...”

“This isn’t about us,” she quickly clarified, her eyebrows coming together in annoyance.

“Then what?”

“Alright...I’ll trust you if you promise you won’t say anything.”

“About what?” Kass asked, rubbing at his eyes.

“You need to promise first.”

“I don’t know if I can make that promise with so little information.”

“Well...if you do tell...I’ll know, because you might spark a conflict between your people and the Gerudo.”

“This sounds heavy...” Kass protested, hoping that Erie might back down.

“Silda and I met a Rito on our journey...” she began reluctantly, “and we didn’t tell you...because...”

“Because she lived in Gerudo Town,” Kass breathed in sudden realization.

“Do your people know about this?”

Kass took Erie’s arm and led her further down the path, out of sight of the camp.

“She’s Kyvoro’s wife,” Kass told her in the barest whisper.

“Oh Goddess...” Erie breathed covering her face with both hands.

“They aren’t even sure if she’s alive.”

“Kass, please. When we told her of our friendship with you...she begged us not to tell...but I just had to ask...”

“What?”

“Is it as bad as she says? Rito Village?”

Kass looked into her desperate eyes. He realized that her worry for him superseded the anger she still held onto. 

“Erie...” 

“Kass, is it...?”

“It’s...restrictive and they’re wary of outsiders...and the elder is really...well he’s very preoccupied with rebuilding their population...I hope very much that the arrival of a stable might change some of it...” 

“So that’s what you’re going to do? Just have a bunch of babies with someone?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It sounds like a brood farm to me.”

“There are Hylians all over the place!” Kass told her defensively, “and they’re just living their lives as they please...but the Rito...I don’t think there are more than fifty left in the entire world.”

“So, you’re just on board with all this limiting of personal freedom in the interest of—”

“Our people not dying out?”

Erie was silent for a moment.

“Are you going to tell them?” she asked.

“No. But the Rito already suspect that she is hiding in Gerudo Town; it’s probably why Kyvoro keeps staring at Murera.”

“I’ll handle Murera,” said Erie.

“Does Cyd know anything about this?”

“I doubt it...I’ll take care of that too,” she said heading back.

“Erie.”

She turned back to look at Kass.

“If it comes out...I don’t want to be a party to this...”

“It’s so good of you to stand up for the rights of others,” she said sarcastically.

Kass—left standing in the road—thought it was entirely unfair of Erie to place him in this position. He had only just begun to settle into the Rito Village, where he was still mostly treated as an outsider. While he certainly had no intention of betraying Lodli’s location, a tiny part of him wondered for a moment if that would gain him acceptance among the Rito.

oOo

The journey came to a full halt when the party came to a decaying bridge. Kass tentatively landed upon it and felt the rickety structure creak and give beneath his feet. As bits of dry, rotted wood flaked off the bottom of the bridge, Kass realized there would be no safe way to cross with the wagons.

“It barely held my weight,” he reported when he returned to the convoy.

“This isn’t a problem for us,” said the carpenter, Bolson, whom Nikalph had hired for this particular expedition.

“But it will mean a delay...” said Erie.

“A day, maybe two,” said Bolson.

“What kind of resources do you need?”

“Wood, rope.”

“I’ll hand out assignments,” said Erie.

Genik stood near the cliff’s edge and stared down into the pass below the bridge. Whatever had been bothering him in the village seemed to have been set aside now that he was directing his energy at defending the convoy. Kass was glad that Genik was no longer so restless and paranoid, but he was simultaneously a little annoyed that Kyvoro had selected him for this expedition. There were plenty of warriors among the Rito who were not in the middle of brooding eggs. Kass had to assume that it was Kyvoro’s trust in Genik to behave himself among Hylians that landed him on this journey.

“Company,” Genik called to the nearby group.

Kass, Silda, and Bolson joined Genik on the cliff’s edge and followed his gaze. In the pass below them, a colony of lizalfos placidly ate bugs from the long grass.

“Do you think they’ll notice us?” asked Kass.

“The longer we’re here, the greater the chance,” said Genik.

“I don’t fancy working on a bridge with those fellas shooting arrows at me,” said Bolson.

“Kyvoro and I might be able to take out the colony on our own...” said Genik noncommittally.

“What if I join you?” Kass said.

“Kass, please,” Genik said, suppressing a laugh.

“I’m not that bad with a blade,” said Kass defensively.

“I still wouldn’t want you on the ground on your own.”

“What if I joined you?” said Silda.

“What?”

“Could you bear my weight upon your back?” she asked.

Genik considered Silda.

“I think so, for a short time,” he said.

“Then let’s be done with these creatures.”

Genik whistled a signal and Kyvoro descended from where he circled above and landed beside him. Genik had only to make a slight gesture with his head for Kyvoro to glance down into the pass and understand the threat. Kass had seen the warriors use signals like this in their drills, but Kass had not yet deciphered them. It seemed almost a code language developed to keep enemies in ignorance of Rito attack patterns.

“An unusual strategy,” Kyvoro said when they told him of the plan, “but we can provide cover from above.”

Silda climbed onto Genik’s back and the three Rito drifted to the ground. Kyvoro provided cover as Silda and Kass took their positions and Genik returned to the air. Kass stood with his back to Silda’s as the lizalfos circled them them.

“Hold your ground,” Silda said just before the first one lunged at Kass.

Kass deflected the spear, but he felt the sting of the creature’s tongue against his face. As he stepped forward, it propelled itself backward.

“Kass, don’t follow it!” Silda shouted, parrying an attack from a forked boomerang.

Kyvoro and Genik pelted the lizalfos with arrows as they swirled and swooped above. Kass managed to finish off two of the monsters who had been stuck with arrows. Silda shoved him out of the way of a lunging foe and he rolled across the grass to avoid her blade.

“Silda, on your left!” Kass shouted, jumping to his feet as the saurian tongue lashed her face.

Kass rushed in with his blade to defend her, but Silda had already ended the creature with a throwing knife.

“Kass, trouble!” Genik shouted above as he and Kyvoro disappeared from his line of sight in the direction of the camp above.

Silda finished with her last monster and looked expectantly at Kass.

“I can’t take off with you, I’m sorry,” Kass told her and he took flight to see what had transpired at the camp.

The convoy was fighting with bokoblins who had been disturbed by the logging on the hill near the camp. Kass joined the fray, his Sheikah blade heavy in his hand as he cut down a bokoblin that had leapt upon Erie’s back. She offered him a quick look of thanks as she swiped some blood from her forehead.

Kass turned to face another as a rock bounced off the back of his leather layer. Before he could react, Murera had decapitated his attacker with a swift stroke of her scimitar. They shared a brief look of acknowledgement before turning to chase down the last of the monsters.

As the chaos died down, Kass looked around. He was relieved to have finally made it through a fight without serious injury.

“Did we loose anyone?” Erie asked, helping Bolson out from where he had taken cover under a wagon, “where’s Silda?”

Kass looked back toward the canyon in time to see Silda drawing herself onto level ground and rolling onto her back. She lay panting from her climb as Kass hurried to her side.

“Silda, I’m sorry,” he said.

“I left...my weapons...down there,” she gasped, wiping sweat from her brow with her sleeve clenched in her fist.

“Kass,” called Genik, gesturing him over to a small cluster of evergreens.

“I’ll come back,” Kass told Silda as he followed Genik’s call.

Kyvoro leaned back against a spruce tree, holding his thigh. As Kass got closer, he realized that there was an arrow sunk deep into his flesh.

“Hold him steady,” Genik told Kass, as Genik tore open Kyvoro’s trouser-leg.

“What?”

“I don’t want the Hylians getting involved,” Kyvoro grated.

“Have either of you ever done this before?” Kass asked skeptically, “because I’m certain Silda’s rather good at it.”

Kyvoro fixed him with a stern look. 

“Just a suggestion.”

Kass pressed down on Kyvoro’s thigh while Genik gripped the arrow. The small movement of Genik’s hand on the wooden shaft was enough to make Kyvoro screech. He grabbed Genik’s wings to stop him.

“You don’t know what you’re doing,” he hissed.

Genik let go and raised his wings a little in defeat. Kyvoro leaned his head back against the tree trunk and grit his beak. Kass put a hand on his shoulder to keep his attention.

“Kyvoro. Please let me get Silda; she’ll know what to do with this.”

Kyvoro gave in to reason, and nodded his agreement with a look of pained defeat.

Silda agreed to keep it from the rest of the Hylians for the price of Kass collecting her weapons from the pass. This was more than fair, Kass thought, as he would have done this for her anyway. By the time that Kass returned, Silda had set a fire and pulled out a small phial of milky liquid that Kass recognized as a pain tonic.

“Where was that when you treated me?” Kass asked darkly.

“We’ve grown better at provisioning with experience,” said Silda, putting a few drops into a metal cup with water.

As Silda handed it to Kyvoro, he examined the cup suspiciously.

“It’s pain tonic,” Kass told him.

“I can handle the pain.”

“You’re hardly handling it now,” Genik pointed out, “Silda fought with us. We must trust her.”

Kyvoro looked back to Kass, his cautious nature elevated in the seriousness of the situation.

“You know this Hylian well.”

“Yes. I trust her with my life,” said Kass, watching as Silda’s lips curled in the barest half-smile.

For Kyvoro, Kass’s declaration seemed to be good enough. He drank the mixture and rested back against the tree. After a short while, he began to have difficulty sitting upright. Kyvoro reached out for Genik to try and steady himself and Genik wrapped a wing around him. Watching their interaction, Kass was struck with the realization that Kyvoro had insisted on Genik’s presence because he was the only other warrior he trusted.

“Hylian, what poison have you given me?” Kyvoro grumbled.

“This is normal,” Kass reassured him, watching as Silda took a sharp knife from the fire to cool “how’s the pain?”

“Less,” he said.

He laid his head back on Genik’s leg in his daze, his inhibitions somewhat lowered from the drug. Genik looked neither surprised nor bothered by the stoic Rito’s sudden intoxication and did his best to make sure that Kyvoro was comfortable.

“I need your help,” Silda said to Kass, glancing cautiously at Kyvoro’s talons.

“Kyvoro, we’re going to do this quickly before they come and take these trees down,” Kass warned him.

“Do what you must,” said Kyvoro.

“Hold him,” Kass instructed Genik.

Genik held Kyvoro’s wings against his body so that he would not lash out with them. Kass pressed down on Kyvoro’s leg while Silda probed with her fingertips, feeling for the edges of the arrowhead. This did not seem to bother Kyvoro much, but as Silda cut the flesh to release the arrowhead, Kyvoro screeched and tried to pull away. Genik and Kass held him still and Silda was a quick as ever. She pulled the arrow from the wound, flushed it with clear spirits, and pressed a clean square of linen against it. Kass bound the dressing in place and looked back at Genik.

“I think he fainted,” said Genik, still letting Kyvoro’s head rest in his lap.

Silda rose and handed Genik the arrow. Genik looked at it uneasily and back at Silda.

“A souvenir...you give it to him. I doubt he will be pleased to see me when he awakes,” she said, collecting her gear.

Kyvoro stirred and reached down to his bandaged leg with a sharp intake of breath.

“Is she finished?” he asked, his eyes a little glassy from the pain tonic.

“Yeah, take it easy,” said Genik, keeping a steadying hand on Kyvoro’s back as he propped himself on his elbow.

“Hylian...Silda,” said Kyvoro, extending his wing to her.

He grasped her arm at the elbow, enveloping her arm with his broad wing and she solemnly returned the gesture. Kass had only ever seen Teba and Harth do this, but knew it to be one of mutual respect as warriors. Silda, too, seemed to understand the gravity of the exchange.

“Thank you.”

oOo

The bridge was built in a matter of days and the party crossed with no further incidents. Kass was pleased to see that Kyvoro and Genik had both begun to join his friends at their fire when the wagons were circled for the evening. Kass imagined that Kyvoro had begun to warm to the group out of his respect for Silda. Whatever the reason, Kass was glad to know that Rito and Hylians could share a meal or pass an evening in fellowship.

They had nearly reached the location where the stable was to be built when what Kass had been dreading most came to pass. It was late in the day and he had just returned to Erie with his last scouting report. He noticed the tension in the group immediately; his friends were rarely subtle.

Erie absolutely fumed with silent anger. Silda sat impassively in the back of a wagon observing her companions. Murera held a cloth to Cyd’s bleeding scalp. Genik and Kyvoro had disappeared.

“What happened?” Kass asked, surveying the group in disbelief.

“Cyd knew more than we thought,” said Erie.

“About...oh Goddess,” said Kass in sudden realization.

“Yep. Just opened his mouth and gave Lodli away.”

Erie glared at Cyd, who did not seem to notice Erie at all under his wife’s ministrations.

“I thought you took care of this...” said Kass, “Kyvoro?”

“That way,” Erie pointed.

Kass flew up to the ledge. He spotted the Rito nearby. Kyvoro seemed anxious and angry and Genik was trying to calm his friend. 

“...he doesn’t know anything, he can’t even get into Gerudo Town,” Genik told him.

“He’s married to a Gerudo woman! Those Hylians knew! They all knew! How can we trust them when they keep such secrets?!”

Kyvoro paced and ranted until his injury pained him too much. He clutched his leg and grasped Genik’s wing hard, a look of total misery on his face.

“Just sit down,” Genik urged, helping Kyvoro settle himself on the ground, “you’re going to make it bleed again.”

Genik crouched beside Kyvoro and rested a hand on his back, trying to calm him. Kass was sorry to intrude, but this issue wasn’t going away on its own.

“Kyvoro...what did you do to Cyd?” Kass asked.

“He hit him with his bow,” said Genik, watching as Kyvoro covered the back of his head with his wings and leaned forward in distress.

Kass was suddenly glad that Genik was here; he doubted that any of the other warriors had the capacity to talk Kyvoro out of doing anything rash.

“Are you going to leave the convoy?” Kass asked Genik quietly.

Genik shrugged.

“Is he going to be alright? I can stay if you need anything.”

“I need nothing from you!” spat Kyvoro.

“Go check on your Hylians,” said Genik calmly, “Kyvoro needs a moment.”

 _‘Your Hylians’._ The phrase stung Kass as he drifted back to the narrow pass. He had the uncomfortable feeling of being between two worlds and of neither.

When he landed, he rounded on Cyd.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you drinking again?” Kass snapped, stepping so close to Cyd that there was almost no space between them.

“Do not insult my husband!” warned Murera, inserting herself between them.

“Both of you calm down,” said Erie.

“I’m calm,” said Kass as he backed down, though he could hardly recall feeling so angry at anyone before.

“I will not strike the _vure_.” she said venomously.

“Murera, don’t strike anyone,” Cyd sighed, reaching for her hand.

“It’s not Murera I take issue with,” Kass clarified.

“Is this _entirely_ Cyd’s fault?” asked Silda skeptically, still sitting precariously on the backboard of the wagon.

“It is,” said Erie with clear certainty, “what were you thinking? I told you not to say anything!”

“He just kept _hinting_ , alright?” Cyd snapped, “and Murera didn’t want to tell him.”

“Lodli is welcome among my people!” Murera said, “it is no business of his where she lives her life.”

“So he didn’t even ask you directly?” Silda asked Cyd, her opinion on the matter clearly turning.

“I was tired of him pestering my wife.”

Cyd crossed his arms defensively as the group needled him. Murera prowled beside him, her hand on the hilt of her scimitar. Whatever Cyd had done to win over Murera, it was clear her had her absolute loyalty as a partner.

“You understand that you may have just set off a diplomatic incident between two peoples,” Erie pointed out.

“What...c’mon,” Cyd dismissed her, no doubt thinking that he was too small to have a part in the affairs of civilizations.

“Goddess...” Kass sighed at Cyd’s ignorance, rubbing his face with his hand in a manner he was acutely aware he had acquired living among Hylians.

“Cyd, I really need you to tell me that you understand that...” said Erie.

“Alright, now I do!” said Cyd throwing up his arms and pacing a little.

“Not to mention you may have cost Lodli her freedom,” Silda added from the back of the wagon.

Cyd just looked at her. Decades of living alone on the road and in stables had not granted him the ability to easily see consequences beyond the level of the individual.

“The Rito are an isolationist and patriarchal society,” Kass told him, “they are quite firmly attached to to traditional roles of men and women and they are in the midst of a population crisis.”

“Ah...I see your point...” Cyd sighed.

“Kass...is there anything you can do to smooth this over?” Erie asked.

Kass was growing tired of being the go-between, but in the interest of sustained peace between the Gerudo and Rito he decided he ought to try. 

When he returned to the ledge, Kyvoro sat weeping. Genik had a wing wrapped around him and glanced back at Kass in irritation. Kass felt badly intruding on the emotional strife of another, but he wondered if this might be his best strategy.

“Did everyone know?” Kyvoro asked Kass as he sat down beside him.

“I don’t know...not everyone.”

“I can’t live with my shame,” said Kyvoro, “she despised me so much that she left.”

“It wasn’t you she despised,” Genik told him, “she needed her own space. It must have been a difficult decision to leave her people.”

Kass was not surprised to hear Genik talking this way, given how he often he threatened to leave. Kass also knew that the Rito abhorred the idea of loneliness and used periods of exile as the ultimate punishment. That any Rito would willingly leave their people was unthinkable to most. 

“Are you going to do something about it?” Kass asked.

“What would I do? Air my shame for the entire village to see? I’m First Warrior; no one would follow me.”

“And you’re not going to try to get her back on your own?”

“For all the good that would do. The journey is treacherous and I cannot abandon my duties to my village or my daughter.”

“The Hylians aren’t going to say anything to any other Rito,” Kass assured him.

“I wish I had never asked. I believed her dead for so long,” Kyvoro said, covering his eyes.

Kass put his hand on Kyvoro’s shoulder for a moment before he rose. Genik stood pulled Kass aside as he headed back to the pass.

“You’re not far from the village now,” Genik told Kass, “the path should be clear. Kyvoro wants to leave the convoy.”

“I thought you’d stay,” protested Kass.

“Believe me, I’m enjoying life outside of the village, and these Hylians...I enjoy their company...but Kyvoro has grown uncomfortable here,” Genik glanced back at Kyvoro and lowered his voice, “I’m quite concerned; I’ve never seen him like this. Someone must stay with him.”

Kass nodded his agreement and returned to the pass, swearing that this would be the last go-between. 

The convoy was setting up camp for the night. Kass found his usual companions gathered around their fire in uncomfortable silence.

“You’re fortunate,” he said, “the traditionalism of the Rito also means that they can be shamed by such things...Kyvoro doesn’t want anyone to know, so if you hear a rumour it needs to be stamped out before anyone in this convoy meets another Rito...we’ve also lost their protection because of this incident...so we had best set out early tomorrow.”

Kass left his companions and decided that he would rather spend that evening on his own. He was feeling badly used by both sides in this diplomatic debacle. As he lit his fire he wondered if he would always be doomed to straddle this line.

He looked up to see Silda. The warrior never bothered about permission and this was no exception. She sat down beside Kass and handed him a hunk of bread. Kass accepted, tearing a piece off to eat as he stared into the fire.

“You said ‘they’,” she said.

“What?”

“When you were talking about the Rito, you said ‘they’ not ‘we’,” she said.

“Well you were also referred to as ‘my Hylians’ so perhaps I’m not so good at being a Rito.”

“My mother was Gerudo,” said Silda apropos of nothing.

“I would never have guessed.”

“I took after my father. My mother died when I was very young and I grew up among Hylians, even though I was supposed to return to my grandmother in Gerudo Town.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kass asked; Silda was never so forthcoming.

“Because...if you haven’t lived among your own people...it can be strange when you try.”

They sat in silence and stared at the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll return our focus to more of the canon characters as this wears on. Teba and Harth in particular will see expanded roles very soon.


	20. A Bridge Between Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Construction begins on the stable and the Rito-Hylian alliance grows stronger.

Though Genik and Kyvoro had left them, the convoy was still received at the edge of Lake Totori by Kaneli, flanked by Teba and Harth. Erie—the de facto leader of the expedition—met them with Kass by her side as the sky darkened.

“Welcome to Rito lands,” said Kaneli.

“Thank you. We appreciate the help you’ve given us in crossing these dangerous lands.”

“We hope that relations between the Rito and Hylians might grow stronger with time,” Kaneli said graciously, “in the meantime, we offer the protection of our warriors, Teba and Harth.”

Erie glanced at Kass who nodded subtly that she should accept.

“We appreciate your kind offer.” To Teba and Harth she said, “please feel free to join our camp.”

Teba and Harth glanced at each other as though they would rather rest in a bed of thorns and took to the sky to survey the surrounding area for threats.

“If there is anything we can offer, please let us know,” Kaneli said.

“Let us extend the same offer,” said Erie.

“Let friendship blossom between Rito and Hylians,” said Kaneli, “I take my leave.”

Kaneli spread his enormous wings and took off into the updraft coming up from the lake.

“That went well, right?” Erie asked.

“I think so,” shrugged Kass.

“Care to eat?” Erie asked, turning back to the camp.

“Yes, I believe I am rather hungry.”

“Amali!” came Harth’s irritated shout from above.

Kass looked up to see his betrothed gliding down to the camp, Harth circling toward her. She landed in front of Kass and Erie, and Harth set down a moment later. Kass did his best to ignore Harth, who no doubt wanted Kass to rise to his jealous posturing.

“You’re not supposed to be out here,” said Harth.

“You well know that Kaneli gave his blessing to any Rito who wished to visit the camp,” said Amali a little smugly, wrapping a wing around Kass.

“Harth,” Teba said in a warning tone, landing beside him.

Erie gave the two warriors a strange look and then glanced back at Kass and Amali.

“Is something going on between you two?” Erie asked Harth.

Harth appeared so surprised to be directly addressed by a Hylian that he could not immediately respond.

“It appears that Harth is a little overzealous in his enforcement of old rules,” said Amali.

“Well, Harth, you and Teba can join us at the fire for a meal if you’re satisfied with your patrol,” said Erie pointedly.

Even Teba and Harth could not seem to dismiss Erie’s insistent tone. They begrudgingly followed her to meet the Hylians they would be fighting alongside.

“I’m glad you made it back safely,” Amali said, brushing her beak against Kass’s.

“Am I to take it you missed me?” he asked as the tip of her beak combed through the feathers on his neck.

“I want us to make our vows. We’ve waited long enough,” said Amali.

“What do we need to do?” asked Kass, thinking of the scale of Hylian and Sheikah weddings he had witnessed.

“We gather our closest friends and family, and we make our promises to each other before the statue of the Goddess.”

“My closest friends are Hylians...they wouldn’t make it all the way to the statue in the village,” Kass pointed out.

“Antilli and Harth will marry before we’ve even made a decision, and they’ve only just announced their engagement,” said Amali.

“I didn’t realize this was a race,” Kass said a little irritated.

“Might we seek an equitable compromise that honours both of our traditions?” she pressed.

“I’ll think about it,” said Kass.

oOo

Within a few nights it became apparent that Teba and Harth did not fit into the camp nearly so well as Genik and Kyvoro had. Harth’s insecurity around Hylians made him act more brash and aggressive than usual. He attempted to provoke some of the Hylians into combat, and grew hostile when they walked away. Though Teba did not directly insult anyone in the party, his disdain for them was evident; he refused any food offered to him and pretended that he did not hear any questions addressed to him that did not directly concern the security of the camp.

A few days after their Rito guards had arrived, Kass accompanied Cyd and Murera through the woods as they cleared the octorocks from the forest floor ahead of the woodcutters. Cyd had grown short-tempered with Harth the night before as Harth had complained about the poor bowmanship of Hylians.

“I think I’d rather have Kyvoro back,” Cyd said.

“He struck you,” said Murera.

“So have lots of people...most of whom were Silda and I still like her.”

“Teba and Harth spoke out strongly against the stable, but they were in no way the majority...I think they might actually be afraid of Hylians,” said Kass.

Murera made a derisive noise.

“Is there anything you can do?” Cyd asked.

“Me?”

“Kass, you are the only one who seems to speak both languages.”

“Firstly, that’s not true—I don’t have any sort of innate understanding of the Rito. Secondly, I don’t like it when you put me between the Hylians and the Rito,” said Kass, angrily hacking down a sapling that turned out to be nothing but a sapling.

“You’re right...I don’t want to put you in that position...I just want to apologize to Kyvoro.”

“I doubt he would want you to bring it up,” said Kass.

“Maybe you don’t believe it, but I actually feel terrible about this whole thing.”

“There are things that cannot be unsaid,” Murera pointed out to her husband, “and you have said them.”

It was clear to Kass that she was also unhappy about this.

“I’ll pay Kyvoro a visit,” said Kass carefully, “I promise nothing.”

“Thank you,” said Cyd.

“Perhaps in the meantime, instead of trying to kill Harth with a spoon over some perceived sleight of you abilities, you might try killing him with kindness in the interest of improving relations between the camp and the Rito,” Kass advised acerbically.

Cyd grunted noncommittally.

oOo

Late in the afternoon, Kass returned to Rito Village. When he stopped at Kyvoro’s roost, little Cecili grabbed his wing in both hands.

“Dad hasn’t gotten up from his hammock all day,” she said, glad to finally have someone who would listen to her, “he does this everyday now.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Kass told her, trying to ease her fears, “maybe you should go play with your friends for a little while.”

Cecili looked back at her father and then nodded at Kass and reluctantly left the roost.

“There’s nothing you can say,” said Kyvoro as Cecili trudged down the boardwalk.

Kass straightened up and looked to the hammock where Kyvoro lay staring at the ceiling. Kass was finding the moodiness of the Rito to be challenging, but he could not deny that he, too, had known this dark beast that had taken over Kyvoro.

“Is this really all you’ve been doing?” Kass asked him.

Kyvoro sighed.

“I find I am more grieved knowing she is alive and could not bring herself to come back to her daughter than I was believing her dead.”

“What did you tell Cecili?”

“Nothing. How could I tell her that her mother is alive and would rather live in the far reaches of the world than be with her?”

“This isn’t your fault,” Kass said, and he hoped it was true.

“I am affected nonetheless.”

As Kyvoro lay agonizing, Kass strung the extra hammock next to Kyvoro’s and climbed up beside him.

“What are you doing?” Kyvoro asked, staring at Kass as the hammocks bumped together under Kass’s momentum.

“Am I still welcome to stay with you? I’ve grown tired of sleeping on the ground.”

Kyvoro grumbled, but did not refuse. Kass lay back and got comfortable.

“The sun still shines; it’s hardly time to sleep,” Kyvoro complained.

“I’m not sleeping,” said Kass.

“Then why are you lying here?”

“I know very little about Rito friendship,” said Kass, “but you’ve saved my life and allowed me into your home. And you have defended me in battle as well as from the other Rito.”

“You were hardly deserving of their narrow-minded insults,” Kyvoro conceded.

“I don’t know what I can do to help,” said Kass, “but I’ll stay here with you.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Uncomfortable silence is fine with me.”

Kass stayed with Kyvoro as darkness fell. He left only briefly to say hello Amali and cook a meal for Kyvoro and Cecili. When he returned to the roost, he was relieved to see that Kyvoro had summoned the energy to leave his hammock and sit on the floor with his daughter.

“Tomorrow, I will take you to visit the Hylian camp,” Kyvoro was telling his daughter, “and I will show you that what Verla says is not true. You have nothing to fear from these Hylians.”

“What is it that Verla says?” Kass asked, sitting down with them.

“That Hylians are very tall and violent.”

“They’re certainly not tall,” said Kass.

“But he said that your tribe was killed by Hylians.”

Kass froze. If Kyvoro’s expression was any indication, he had also not expected that the children of the village knew of this. Kass gave Kyvoro what must have been a desperate look because Kyvoro stepped in to handle the matter.

“It’s true that Kass’s people were killed,” he said, glancing at Kass as he spoke to his daughter, “but these Hylians did not kill them. Most of them were not yet...hatched.”

“Born,” Kass supplied.

“But it _was_ Hylians...” said Cecili, her expression fearful.

“Many of these Hylians are my friends,” said Kass, “even your father has friends among them.”

Kyvoro looked doubtful, but did not contradict Kass.

“We will go tomorrow and you shall see there is nothing to fear from them,” Kyvoro said, settling the matter.

oOo

The next morning, Kyvoro and Cecili were not the only Rito who came down to the camp. Nekk had come to discuss orders for snowquill gear with some of the Hylians who were to stay behind at the stable.

“You’ll never make it through the winter without them,” Nekk was telling Murera and Cyd.

“You see, Cecili,” said Kyvoro, “Hylians are very much like we are.”

“They don’t seem very much like us at all,” said Cecili.

“They are where it counts,” said Kass.

“Are they good warriors?” Cecili asked her father.

“That one is,” said Kyvoro, pointing out Silda as she dropped a roll of canvas between the two supports where it was to be strung.

“Are they good singers?” 

“Not especially.”

Failing to meet these strict qualifications for similarity, Cecili remained skeptical that they might have anything in common.

“Kass, you won’t believe what we found in the woods,” said Erie, approaching.

Cecili hid shyly behind her father.

“Kyvoro, I’m pleased to see you again,” Erie said a little stiffly, always favouring diplomacy over personal feelings.

“Cecili, this is Erie,” said Kyvoro, urging Cecili forward.

Erie—though petite herself—crouched down to the little Rito’s level. The smile that graced her face at the sight of a Rito child was one which Kass had never seen her wear.

“Good to meet you, Cecili,” said Erie.

Cecili was tongue-tied, overwhelmed with meeting even a Hylian as nonthreatening as Erie. She pressed herself back against Kyvoro. Erie stepped back and stood to address Kass.

“Come, look at this,” she said.

Kass followed her. Behind her Kyvoro urged Cecili to follow as well. They arrived at a mossy, rotting lean-to near where the supports for the new stable had gone up.

“What are we looking at?” Kass asked.

“This is the remains of the old stable,” said Erie, “it was abandoned after the Calamity and the forest grew up around it...”

“Did you know it was there?” Kass asked Kyvoro.

“No.”

“We thought—as the old stable was symbolic of the cooperation between Rito and Hylians—that the new one should stand in the same place,” Erie told them.

“May our alliance only grow stronger,” said Kyvoro.

As the day wore on, Kyvoro and Cecili remained at the camp. Cecili was brave enough to greet Silda when she saw how Kyvoro gripped her arm in a warriors’ exchange. While it emboldened Cecili, the gesture drew an irritated look from Teba and riled Harth.

“She is not a Rito warrior!” Harth confronted Kyvoro.

“Do not interfere in things that you do not understand,” Kyvoro replied.

“Don’t do this in front of the Hylians,” Teba said, gripping Harth’s shoulder so hard that Harth actually flinched.

“Why don’t we settle this?” suggested Kass, stepping in reluctantly.

“How would you propose we settle this?” asked Teba crossly.

“It seems that you doubt the abilities of Hylian warriors. Perhaps a friendly competition might reassure you that Hylians are competent fighters.”

“I’m in,” said Cyd before Teba and Harth had even had time to consider it.

“Me too,” said Silda.

“I wish to represent the Gerudo,” Murera announced.

“Fine,” agreed Harth, “we will defeat you at whatever challenges are set.”

“Kass...you don’t think this might be a little counter-productive?” Erie asked as she caught wind of the scheme.

“I think it might be a good stepping stone to understanding,” said Kass.

“I agree,” said Kyvoro, “though we might invite other warriors who wish to participate.”

“Tomorrow then. In the afternoon,” Kass announced to the group.

“Kass! There you are!” said Amali, landing beside him.

“Have you been looking for me?”

“Genik and Misa’s egg has hatched!” she said excitedly.

Kass excused himself from the group and followed her to the lake’s edge. He had never before seen a newly hatched Rito and was nearly excited as Amali seemed to be. When they arrived at the village he raced up the boardwalk behind her to Genik and Misa’s roost.

“I’ve heard you have good news,” said Kass as he entered the roost.

Misa and Genik sat in the back of the roost, Genik holding the hatchling against his feathers and Misa with her wings around them both. Kass had never seen the two of them so united over anything before—nor even in such close proximity to each other. Misa invited Amali and Kass to come sit with them.

“Goddess, Genik, you’re crying!” Amali observed.

“I can’t help it...he’s so ugly, but he’s so cute,” said Genik.

“That’s a terrible thing to say about our son! He’s beautiful!” said Misa.

Kass was more inclined to agree with Genik than Misa. The hatchling was featherless, save for a bit of pale green down on the top of his head. He shivered and burrowed against Genik’s feathers.

“I’m happy for you,” said Kass, stroking the down on the hatchling’s head with a feather touch.

Kass stayed until the sky grew dark. Misa settled into her hammock with the hatchling snuggled against her for warmth. Genik covered them both with a blanket as Kass stood in the doorway. He had never before felt the closeness of family like this, and it reaffirmed his decision to join this clan.

“You should sleep, too,” Amali told Genik.

“I think you’re right,” said Genik, his expression a little dazed.

“I’m going with Kass,” she said.

“Hurry up and wed already; people are beginning to wonder about you both,” Genik said as he settled into his hammock.

“Goodnight,” Amali said over him.

“Shall we stay at the camp?” suggested Kass as they drifted down the boardwalk.

“I suppose I would like to speak more with your friends. I like hearing about your youthful exploits,” she said before they took off from a small landing.

As they neared the stable, it became evident that the camp was in trouble. An overturned wagon burned, lighting the area with an ominous light. Thorough the shadows and smoke, Kass could make out a band of bokoblins terrorizing the camp.

“Amali! Summon Kyvoro and the other warriors!” Kass shouted.

“What about you?”

“Just go!” Kass insisted as he dropped into a dive.

Kass drew his eightfold blade just as he was about to hit the ground and used the speed of the dive to deliver a fatal blow to a blue bokoblin who was missing an ear. His momentum carried him into a roll and he came up to his feet only to feel the sting of an arrow grazing his shoulder. He retreated from the archer and fell back beside Murera. 

Harth lay writhing on the ground between Murera and Cyd, who defended him against the horde. Kass could not see any blood for the dark feathers, but Harth held his side with both hands.

“Teba?” Kass asked him.

“Lost him,” Harth grunted.

“Kass, we need to end this!” Cyd called to him.

An arrow _thunked_ into the wooden shield which Cyd held.

“What do you suggest?” Kass called.

Kass parried the blow from a bokoblin welding a heavy, gnarled bat and felt the shock reverberate up through his wings. Murera ended the creature with a decisive downward strike to its skull.

“Just fucking kill them!” Cyd shouted as his shield splintered under the heavy blow of a rusted claymore.

Kass heard a whistled signal from above and looked up. Kyvoro and Genik dived in with a few warriors in their youth to bestrew the bokoblins with arrows. While the bokoblins were preoccupied the with hell raining down from above, Murera and Cyd pressed in to finish those who did not fall.

Kass knelt with Harth. He kept his sword drawn defensively as he encouraged Harth to keep pressure on his wound.

“As if my day couldn’t get any worse,” Harth griped.

“Because I’m saving your life?” Kass asked, fighting to keep the smile from his face.

“You don’t have to be so...” Harth’s accusation was lost to a pained moan.

“Just lie still,” said Kass, worried by the blood that stained his feathers as he pressed his hand over Harth’s.

“You win alright?”

“Neither of us is winning right now, but if being angry at me keeps you awake, then by all means.”

Cyd returned after the battle wrapped up and crouched beside Kass with a folded cloth. He peeled back Harth’s hands and pressed the fabric against the wound. Kass caught sight of the familiar pattern of shredded flesh.

“The foreigner and a Hylian...” Harth complained through his pain, “my lucky day.”

“Were you bitten?” Kass asked him.

“What do you think?!”

“We should have it seen to,” said Kass.

“Back off.”

“Enough, Harth,” said Cyd, keeping pressure over the dressing while he pulled Harth’s wing over his shoulders and hauled him to his feet.

“Hylian... _oh Goddess_...” Harth pressed his free wing over Cyd’s hand as he folded over in pain.

“Come on, one foot in front of the other,” Cyd encouraged him sharply.

Harth gave up his protest and leaned on Cyd as they returned to the point where Erie was rallying people and performing a rudimentary triage. Kass spotted Teba leaning back against a tree. Silda pressed a dressing near his neck; the blood on his white feathers was visible even in the dim firelight.

“Teba,” Harth gasped in relief as Cyd eased him to the ground beside his friend.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Teba said.

“Never is with you,” Harth managed.

“His might be worse,” Cyd said, gesturing to Silda for a skin of spirits.

“No. I will wait for treatment from Saki,” said Harth, as Cyd uncorked the bottle.

“Saki is seeing to some Hylians,” Teba informed him, as he sat still for Silda to bind the wound.

“Tough luck for you today, Harth,” said Cyd through the cork in his teeth.

Harth did not make more noise than a pained intake of breath as Cyd irrigated his wound.

“Kyvoro,” Teba said, more as a warning to Harth as their First Warrior approached.

“Great, I was hoping for a licking,” lamented Harth with all the sarcasm he could muster.

“What happened?” Kyvoro asked Teba crossly.

“One of the Hylians brought down a deer,” said Teba, “the bokoblins must have been near enough to follow the scent.”

“You were both assigned here to prevent this,” said Kyvoro, “I realize you are not warm to our Hylian guests, but I had thought that your sense of duty would have compelled you to perform your duties.”

“With respect, Kyvoro,” said Cyd, “neither of them has been shirking their duties. They conduct regular patrols and sprang into action at the first sign of trouble.”

“Be that as it may, two Hylians have died and we have yet to account for all of the injuries between our parties. I have assigned Gesane and Guy to take over this coveted responsibility.”

“They’re hardly more than children!” Teba protested angrily.

“Teba, you’ve made it clear that you have little respect for the Hylians. I would think that this should come as a relief to you.”

Cyd seemed to be suppressing a sour look. Silda ignored Kyvoro’s assertion continued to bandage Teba’s wound.

“I imagine that this experience may have changed Teba’s perspective,” offered Kass.

Teba and Harth looked at Kass as though he was the last person they expected to defend them.

“The Hylians...Silda fought with her back to mine,” said Teba.

Kyvoro nodded and looked to Harth.

“Sad though it is to say, I would likely not be here without them,” Harth begrudgingly admitted.

“Teba, you will take some time to mend. Harth...”

“He may need a little more time,” said Kass.

“I agree, recover your strength, then you may return to your duties.”

Kyvoro left them so he could go and direct some of the Rito novices who were helping return order to the camp.

“You’re a class act, Harth,” said Cyd sarcastically as he accepted a roll of bandages from Silda, “now sit up.”

Harth gave Cyd a confused expression as Kass helped him sit up so Cyd could bind the wound.

“Ever been bitten by a bokoblin before?” Cyd asked.

“No.”

“Well, enjoy your fever,” said Cyd getting up to go help put the camp back together.

“You’re done,” Silda told Teba, following Cyd.

Kass sat down beside Harth. He examined his throbbing shoulder and realized he must have been grazed by a flaming arrow as his feathers were singed and there was no trace of blood.

“Why haven’t you joined the Hylians?” asked Teba.

“They risked their lives for you,” said Kass, “how can you still treat them with such disdain?”

“If you must know,” said Teba, “I was impressed by Silda’s skills...I’m coming around to the idea of this alliance.”

“I have no quarrel with the Hylians,” Harth conceded moodily, “the failure was ours.”

“If there was a failure,” said Kass, “it doesn’t rest only upon your shoulders. If this is to be a collaborative effort between two peoples, we must work together in earnest.”

“Kass, this lecture would go over better with something for the pain,” Harth hissed.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

oOo

Amali had been quite worried about Kass’s injury, even though he assured her that it was not too painful. The two of them sat last watch for the camp that night. Teba and Harth slept beneath a bivouac a little ways behind them. Harth had been too tender to be flown back to the village and Teba refused to leave his friend. Harth squirmed uncomfortably in his sleep and Kass wondered if he might already have the beginnings of a fever.

“Genik said he’s never seen such an organized attack by bokoblins,” said Amali as they stared out into the woods.

“They’re usually opportunistic,” said Kass, “they must have a colony nearby.”

Saki came to join them, her face grim.

“I’ve run out of pain tonic,” she said, “there were many serious injuries among the Hylians.”

“I’ll help you brew more,” said Amali, rising.

“My ingredients are are in the village...”

“We can go together,” said Amali.

Kass kept watch until sunrise. He paced back to the bivouac a few times to check on Harth, who remained restless. 

As the occupants of the camp began to rise, Cyd brought Kass a bowl of simmered fruit.

“How’s he doing?” Cyd asked, glancing back at Harth.

“No fever yet, though he didn’t sleep well.”

“I’ve never had to fight so hard to defend a stable,” said Cyd, “the only way anyone will be safe here will be with full cooperation between the stable and the village.”

“I wonder if we might be seeing some sort of decision now,” said Kass, watching as Kaneli landed near the camp.

“He’s early.”

“Wake those two,” said Kass.

He set aside his breakfast and hurried to meet the elder as he was greeted by Erie.

“Kyvoro informed me of the attack,” said Kaneli.

“Both Rito and Hylians suffered,” said Erie.

“That I heard as well. Though I am saddened to hear of your losses, I believe our unity to be a source of great strength. As a symbol of our new found friendship we would propose to construct a bridge between your world and ours. I would be gratified if you would consent to meet as a representative of your people and discuss this matter more fully,” said Kaneli.

“Alright,” said Erie, a little surprised by the offer.

“Good,” said Kaneli, and he took off without further word.

“That was very strange,” said Erie.

“Can you meet with him for such a thing?” asked Kass.

“Why not? Village dwellers recognize leaders, but since the Calamity, those of us on the road recognize no rulers.”

“Why was the elder here?” asked Teba, approaching.

“He wants to build a bridge,” said Kass.

“We were to have a competition today,” said Teba, “how interesting that it has turned into a collaboration.”

oOo

As the days wore on, the stable ceased to be piles of wood and canvas and became a complete structure. A temporary rope bridge was strung between the stacks in Lake Totori so that the Hylians might visit the village. In light of the growing cooperation between the two peoples, Kass decided he ought to get on with making vows to Amali.

Kass spent the night before the wedding in reflection as was the custom of the Sheikah. He sat alone in the woods behind the stable, beside a small campfire he had started to keep the wolves at bay. When the moon was at its highest Cyd came and joined him.

“This is supposed to be a solitary activity.”

“But the Sheikah pray; you’re not praying,” Cyd pointed out.

“I’m still purifying my mind.”

“Maybe I need some of that,” said Cyd, sitting beside him.

“What did you do the night before your wedding?”

Cyd smiled roguishly.

“The night before your wedding?” Kass asked in dismay.

“It was a whirlwind romance you might say...we had already received word from Nikalph, so we weren’t about to stick around. It was sort of a ‘now or never’ scenario. Neither of us is young...and maybe we were both a little desperate to get on with the whole thing.”

Silda came and sat down on the forest floor with them.

“Is your mind pure yet?” she asked.

“Somehow even less so than when I started.”

“Purest mind I’ve ever met,” Cyd laughed.

“Have you an Erie ever exchanged vows?” Kass asked Silda, ignoring Cyd.

“Privately, before an unplucked silent princess blossom,” said Silda.

“Silda, I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

Silda shrugged.

“You have no idea,” said Erie joining them.

“How go the bridge plans?” asked Cyd.

“Bolson is confident that it can be done before winter. He’s drawn up a proposal for the Rito to approve.”

“The first real project between Hylians and Rito,” said Kass with a small smile.

“You did this, you know,” said Erie, “you made this all happen.”

“I suppose I couldn’t just choose one life or the other,” said Kass.

Just before sunrise, they roused Murera from her sleep and the five of them took the makeshift rope bridges to the base of the Rito village. Amali stood before the Goddess statue with Genik, Misa, and their young son, Fyson. Saki, Teba and Antilli arrived on Amali’s invitation, and Kyvoro and Cecili came to stand with Kass’s friends. Harth’s absence was quietly excused as he was guarding the camp with Gesane. Kass found himself wishing there was some way that Olin could have been there.

Amali took Kass’s hand and they faced the statue.

“You start,” said Amali.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s not formal, you just make your promise.”

Kass took a deep breath and tried to think of the things that Sheikah said in their vows for guidance.

“Amali. You’re strong and kind and clever. I vow to love you and respect you and to stay by your side for the rest of my life and care for you and any children we might have with my whole heart.”

“I accept your vow. Kass, every time I see your face, I’m filled with happiness. I vow to cherish you and love you and care for you in good fortune and bad for the rest of our lives.”

“I accept your vow.”

Kass heard Teba make a noise of derision as he and Amali brushed their beaks together.

“Is that proper wedding etiquette?” Erie whispered, glancing at Teba.

Kass saw Saki was looking somewhat embarrassed as she approached them with congratulations.

“Teba’s not much of a romantic,” she said by ways of apology.

That evening they and any Rito who cared to join them sang and danced to Hylian folk music at the stable. The light of the bonfire bathed the world in warm light as the Hylians circled and locked arms to the music. The Hylians pulled in their Rito hosts to spin with them to the music.

Kass smiled as Gesane laughed aloud as he twirled a Hylian woman. Erie locked elbows with Murera as Cyd and Silda waved the two of them off. Cecili twirled in circles laughing gleefully.

Kass sat back against one of the empty wagons and asked Amali about Teba.

“I imagine he was annoyed by the emphasis of love and not duty,” she said, “most Rito vows are devoid of the concept.”

“I don’t mind a marriage that includes duty,” said Kass, “but I love you and I hope that we can base our marriage around that.”

“Me too,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn’t think I would post this tonight, but I don’t think I should play with it anymore. This chapter just used to be the first little segment where Kaneli greets them when they arrive and the wedding and it used to be attached to a shorter version of previous chapter. That seemed really muddy and missing the valuable opportunity for Teba and Harth to grow accustomed to the Hylians...but it really ballooned...
> 
> And while I was editing I realized Cyd and Murera are definitely that one gross couple we all know...
> 
> And don't think that all this fluffy stuff is going to last! We've got some dark stuff coming our way!
> 
> Also, huge thanks to Raging_Nerd, who gifted me a work related to this one! You can check it out in the link :)


	21. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass, Genik and Amali must intervene to prevent a diplomatic disaster.

“Kass, you need to wake up.”

Kass reached down to swat away the hand which prodded the bottom of his hammock. The sun had not yet risen and his head was still foggy with sleep.

“Kass!”

“Damn it, Genik! Get out of our roost!” Amali groaned, “are you trying to wake the whole village?”

“What?” asked Kass peeking blearily over the edge of the hammock.

“Kyvoro’s gone,” Genik whispered.

“So?”

“Gone to start a _diplomatic incident_...”

“At the stable?” asked Kass, shivering in the cool of the early spring.

It would not have been the first time; Kyvoro had fought with Cyd one night in darkest winter. Though it had remained unsaid, even Cyd had realized Kyvoro was misplacing his anger and sorrow over Lodli’s departure.

“I would say somewhat further afield,” said Genik pointedly.

“Oh no...” sighed Kass.

“We have to get going,” Genik told him, rifling through Kass’s chest for maps.

“Genik, stop. Let me,” said Kass, rolling from his hammock.

“So you think you’re just going to fetch him back?” Amali asked, landing beside them.

“Not if we don’t get a move on! He’s hours ahead of us!” Genik urged.

Genik left the chest and started packing Kass’s satchel as soon as Kass shooed him out of the way.

“Stop going though my things,” said Kass, grabbing the pack from Genik.

“If you’re both going, so am I,” said Amali.

She grabbed Kass’s pack from him and began to gather their things.

“Hey...no,” protested Genik.

“Might be that you need me where you’re going,” said Amali.

“She has a point,” said Kass.

“Amali, how do you even know where—”

“Less talking, more packing,” she said.

They fastened their weapons and packs and hurried to Revali’s Landing.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this. Dad would kill me...then probably you for good measure,” Genik said to Amali.

“We’re adults, Genik; and we haven’t had to worry what Dad would think for a long time.”

“Does Kaneli know of this?” Kass interrupted the siblings’ chatter.

“He woke me,” said Genik, “but I insisted on having you along for your negotiating skills.”

“Of course; because I know how to speak to Hylians everyone assumes that I can negotiate with the Gerudo?”

“Look, if you don’t figure it out we may all end up dead,” Genik said, leaping from the landing and riding the winds south.

Kass sighed in resignation as he followed Genik.

The day was cool as they flew south through Tabantha. In the late afternoon Kass spotted Tabantha Great Bridge below, though Genik rejected his suggestion that they stay there.

“We have to cover as much ground as we can before sunset,” he insisted.

Truth be told, Kass was already exhausted from the ceaseless flying. If Genik and Amali felt the same, they didn’t let on. He imagined that the little flying he had done in his life compared to other Rito had left him at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of stamina. Even since he had settled in Rito Village, he had never covered such a vast distance on wing.

It was nearly dark when Genik gestured that they should set down. They spotted some cover near a small lake at the base of the red mesas that formed the Gerudo Highlands. As they circled, Kass noticed a peculiar creature.

“Genik, have you any fire arrows?” Kass asked.

“No.”

“That’s a Blizzrobe below; it’s most effectively fought with fire.”

“Will it pursue us?” Genik asked.

“I don’t know; I haven’t had much experience with these demonic creatures.”

“Let’s set down away from it,” suggested Amali, indicating the ruin of a house.

They settled in the partial shelter of a decaying wooden structure. As she collected fallen branches for a fire, Amali looked around at the houses which had rotted away.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Abandoned settlement. Not a village, too small,” said Kass, counting the structures.

“Hylian?” she asked.

“I imagine so. It looks to have been abandoned sometime after the Calamity...no Guardians.”

“Perhaps it was our friend over there,” said Genik, dropping some kindling at their feet as he gestured to the other side of the woods.

“Or maybe he showed up after,” said Kass.

“Either way, let’s get this fire going.”

Kass found he could barely hold the flint and dagger in his exhaustion. After a moment of struggling with them, Amali gently took them from him.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she struck a spark.

“I wonder sometimes if perhaps I am getting old,” said Kass, rubbing at his tired muscles as he leaned back against the precarious wall.

“I kept insisting that you weren’t a dirty old man marrying a nice young thing like me; don’t make me have to eat my words,” she said, drawing her beak through his feathers.

“Well I only said I was _getting_ old...”

“Ugh. Stop,” said Genik, returning with some greenwood sticks and mushrooms.

Kass sat up at the sound of dripping water.

“Do you hear that?”

Genik and Amali drew their bows. The wind picked up, suddenly freezing. The faceless creature appeared before them, eyes glowing in the vacant hood. Genik released an arrow in its direction to little avail. With a shriek of offence, the creature unleashed a blast of cold in Genik’s direction. He dove out of its path with a pained screech. While it was distracted, Amali lit the tip of her arrow in the fire and released. The arrow struck the creature which dissolved in a cloud of vapour.

“Genik, you alright?” she called.

“When did you get so good with the bow?” he asked, holding his shoulder with a shaking hand.

“I was always that good.”

“Were you hit?” Kass asked Genik, cutting through the sibling banter.

“I dunno,” he said returning to the fire.

As he removed his hand from his shoulder, a patch of his feathers flaked away from the area. He stared at the shattered feathers in his hand and Amali made a noise of disgust.

“What is this sorcery?” Genik asked.

Kass leaned in to examine where the attack had frozen Genik’s feathers to the point of breaking.

“It looks like your clothes got most of it,” said Kass, gingerly touching the damaged fabric.

Genik sloughed off another patch of feathers on his shoulder while reaching up to his sleeve-cap.

“Does it hurt?” asked Amali in revulsion.

“Feels like a burn,” said Genik.

“You’re fortunate it didn’t hit your wing,” said Amali.

“You’re welcome for the distraction I provided,” Genik said acerbically as he sat by the fire and picked at the damaged feathers.

Kass—though normally fascinated by the Rito sibling-relationship—was far too tired to listen to Genik and Amali.

“If you want me to take second watch, wake me,” said Kass, “otherwise...”

Kass drifted to sleep wrapped in his bedroll on the damp grass. At some point Amali woke him with the offer of toasted mushrooms. He begrudgingly ate a few. When Amali lay down beside him, he wrapped her in his wings and drifted off.

oOo

“Genik, do you not think this weather may have deterred Kyvoro?” Amali called as they reached the unbearable cold of the highest mesas in the Gerudo Highlands.

“What weather?” shuddered Genik as the dry winds blew his feathers askew.

“Can we set down?” Kass gasped.

Kass had never gone very deep into the Hebra wilds, but the cold he had encountered there was of a different nature; there was a hint of dampness that worked its way through feather and flesh and chilled to the very bone. Here, the frozen desert left Kass’s feathers brittle and his skin beneath his fluffed feathers felt as though it might crack and bleed. 

Genik flew as high as he could bear and scanned the distance. Kass doubted even Genik’s sharp eyes would catch Kyvoro, though his dark feathers would stand out dramatically against the snow. The sun was at its zenith, and the snow below reflected it with crystalline sharpness. Kass could see Genik squinting against the brightness.

“Alright, not for long. Just to warm ourselves,” Genik conceded as he rejoined Kass and Amali.

They settled near a cluster of spruce trees and set a fire with a few fragrant branches. Kass shivered uncontrollably as he sat atop his bedroll, trying to warm himself. Amali sat beside him and wrapped her wings around him, offering him some of her roast fowl. She and Genik were not unaffected by the cold either and sat as near to the fire as they dared.

“We n-n-need tea; w-warm safflina t-tea,” Kass chattered.

“You and your tea,” grumbled Genik, unrolling a map as he came a little closer to the fire.

“I like tea,” said Amali.

“Genik, I sw-swear you shall be the d-death of me,” Kass said, holding his shaking wings out to the fire.

“Don’t worry Kass, I doubt we’ll catch Kyvoro and you’ll get to warm up in the desert,” Genik said, never looking up from the map.

“Th-that’s not b-better.”

“If he makes it to Gerudo Town before us...what do we do?” asked Amali.

“I know nearly nothing of the Gerudo,” admitted Genik.

“The Gerudo are w-warriors, much like the Rito,” Kass said, “they are also cultured and learned, so they might be reasoned with...unless Kyvoro offends them too badly. Then they might simply deal with him as they see fit.”

Kass was beginning to wonder if Kyvoro might pay for this transgression with his life. He sincerely hoped he would not have to give Kyvoro up to the Gerudo for the sake of peace...doing so would no doubt elicit an equal response from the Rito, albeit a delayed one. His insides became twisted with the anxiety of the responsibility that Genik had thrust upon him.

“We should go,” Kass said, “Kyvoro is mad enough to fly through the night...he will reach Gerudo Town before we have sorted out our dinner.”

They put out their fire and resumed their course with renewed focus. Though they flew with fresh determination, by nightfall the temperature had dropped beyond what even Genik and Amali were willing to endure. 

They settled in a small recess in the mesas and huddled close to their campfire. Kass volunteered for first watch, fearing that if he fell asleep in such cold he might not wake. The wind keened over the top of their little shelter, drowning out the howl of the predators in the distance. Kass sat shivering with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Genik and Amali slept curled on either side of him so that he might share in their body heat.

Kass shook his head to stop his eyes playing tricks on him beyond the fire. He had twice thought he saw a dark figure pass their camp. He blinked hard and looked up to see the eyeshine of predatory animals beyond the camp.

“Genik,” he whispered, rousing him with a hand on his shoulder.

Genik pulled himself from the depths of sleep with a groan of protest. Kass shook his shoulder more urgently.

“What?”

“Wolves, I think.”

Genik sat bolt upright and grabbed the falcon bow which lay beside him. Genik searched for those fierce eyes in the darkness beyond their little camp. Kass could no longer see them either.

“Kass, do you want to lie down?”

“They were there.”

“I believe you, but I’m awake now; I may as well take watch.”

Kass reluctantly settled down beside Amali and slid his wing under her blanket to draw her close.

oOo

The next day was spent very much like the day before; Amali, Kass and Genik shivered their way through the red, snow-topped mesas. However, as the shadows lengthened they crossed from that freezing barrier to the rougher sand-coloured mesas which bordered the desert. They landed atop one of these and looked out at the sea of sand beyond. Shadows trailed from pillars of ancient ruins which dotted the landscape. 

Amali felt that she was finally warm—perhaps a little too warm.

“The temperature drops at night,” Kass said as she shed her tunic, “I imagine you’ll find it quite comfortable.”

“If he he made it, Kyvoro will already be there,” said Genik, shielding his eyes with his wing, “we must go.”

Amali and Kass agreed and they leapt into the air. It was not a laborious flight to drift from the mesa which overlooked that endless plain of sand to Gerudo Town. As the sky blackened, the town stood out like a golden beacon in the ocean of darkness. Light spilled from the archways in the city walls out across the sand.

They touched down just outside of the northeast wall. Though the air had cooled considerably, the sand still held the warmth of the day just beneath the surface. It was a curious sensation, more pleasant than walking on snow, though perhaps more difficult.

It became immediately apparent that Kyvoro had been here already. As they approached the gates, no fewer than six guards surrounded them with their golden spears. Kass immediately held up his wings in surrender. Amali followed suit as she felt a spear brush against the swallow bow on her back.

“ _Sav’saaba_ ,” Kass attempted.

“Do not speak to us, Rito!” said his captor from behind her half-mask, “we’ve had enough of your _voe_ meddling in our affairs.”

So, Kyvoro had beaten them to Gerudo Town. Amali sincerely hoped he hadn’t been so foolish as to get himself killed.

“Discard your weapons,” said another, and Amali once again felt the spear against her back.

Her heart hammering in her chest, she slowly unslung her bow and quiver and let them fall to the sand in front of her. Beside her, Kass and Genik dropped their blades and bows.

“You carry a Sheikah weapon,” said Kass’s captor, the tip of her spear resting against his tunic.

“Yes. It was a gift.”

“This one is a _vai_ ,” said Amali’s captor, pushing her forward.

“Is this true? You are a woman?” asked the guard in front of her.

“Y-yes,” stammered Amali.

“We will treat with this one. Have the others dealt with.”

“No wait!” protested Amali as the Gerudo guards marched her husband and brother out across the sand.

“You will stay and speak to our chieftain,” said her guard, halting Amali with her spear.

“Don’t harm them!” Amali begged.

“We will not harm them, but they will not go free until a settlement has been reached,” said the guard, directing her through the arch into the town.

Though Amali was fearful, she could not help but be astonished by the town which differed so much from any place she had been before. Though the air outside was cold, within the village walls the sun-warmed stone kept the town pleasant through the night. Amali observed the beautiful bowl-lanterns which lit both the walkways and the all-night shops. Gerudo still shopped, even at this late hour, casually enjoying the company of their neighbours.

A petite Hylian stood out among the chatting Gerudo. Though she had exchanged her earthy trousers and tunic for a breezy sirwal and top in sapphire blue, Amali recognized her immediately. Erie looked up—as everyone did—to stare at the Rito being marched through the market. Amali shared a desperate look with Kass’s friend, hoping she might be able to intercede.

Amali clenched and released her hands as she was directed up the stairs to the home of the chieftain. She marvelled at the waterfalls that lined the stairs even as apprehension gripped her insides. She was steered through a hall with lush carpet toward the throne where the chieftain sat with an effortless grace.

“So, we have another Rito in our midst,” she said, languishing on each syllable, “what is your name?”

“Speak,” Amali’s guard commanded her, giving her a little shove with her spear.

“Babi,” rebuked the chieftain, “there is no need for such force.”

The chieftain’s eyes came to rest upon Amali once more.

“Amali,” she told her with all the confidence she could muster.

“I am Ufaira, chieftain of the Gerudo. Why have you come here, Amali? Is it to steal Lodli away from her home?”

“No,” said Amali, suddenly breathless.

“Perhaps you, too, wish to plead for asylum among the Gerudo?”

“We came only to collect Kyvoro,” she said.

“We?” said Ufaira looking to the guards.

“There were two Rito _voe_ accompanying her,” Babi reported.

“Kyvoro has broken the central tenet of our doctrine. Not only did he land in our town square in broad daylight, he proceeded to make a nuisance of himself until he was brought down by our guards.”

“What recompense might the Rito offer for this transgression?” Amali asked.

“We had thought to put him to death,” said Ufaira, “but he was saved by the sage council of my chief map-maker...indeed, it appears she comes to intervene once more.”

Amali turned to see where Ufaira gestured to see Erie striding in. Silda followed behind her, dressed in grey Gerudo fabric which covered her from shoulder to ankle. Erie and Silda both dropped to one knee in knightly bows.

“Rise,” said Ufaira.

“My lady—” said Silda, but she was cut off by Ufaira raising an elegant hand.

“Amali bargains on behalf of the Rito. I wish to hear her proposal.”

“We take Kyvoro from your lands and deal with him in accordance with Rito justice. He will never show his face in Gerudo territory again. The men of Rito Village will never again stray so close to your town.”

“I will think upon it,” said Ufaira, “and have a decision for you on the morrow. In the meantime, you are not the leave the walls of the city.”

“My lady,” said Erie, “might you turn responsibility of Amali over to us?”

“You are Hylian, and have wintered her but twice...however, trust must be earned; see that you don’t betray it.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“You are dismissed.”

Erie grabbed Amali’s wing and pulled her from the chieftain’s residence as quickly as she dared.

“Erie...”

“Don’t thank me. Just come,” she said as they half-ran through the town.

“We’ll speak later,” said Silda, running for the northeast gate.

“This way,” said Erie, pulling Amali into an alley.

“Where are we going?”

“Our home. We need your help.”

Amali followed Erie into the set of apartments carved right into the stone. It was lit from within by those marvellous lamps.

“Please,” Erie prompted.

Erie gestured her into the next room and Amali followed. To her utter surprise a dark red Rito lay sleeping on one of the beds in the room, a blanket pulled up to her waist.

“Lodli,” whispered Amali.

Erie approached the Rito and gently stroked her head to to rouse her.

“Erie, it’s so late,” said Lodli.

“I know, but we’ve brought someone who might help,” said Erie, still gently smoothing her feathers.

Lodli looked past Erie at Amali. Her eyes seemed hazy and confused.

“I know your face, but I cannot recall your name.”

“Amali. Your sister has been my friend since we were children.”

“Is she well?”

“She married Harth in the autumn.”

“Yes, she always said she would win him over.”

“Amali,” said Erie, “we have no way to know what ails Lodli.”

“Is Amali is a healer?”

“No...”

“Lodli, may we?” asked Erie.

“Whatever eases your mind, Hylian,” she sighed with some irritation.

Erie pressed Amali’s hand over Lodli’s stomach, which she bore stoically. Amali’s fingers grazed a hard mass.

“Is this a bound egg?” asked Erie.

“I don’t think so...it’s far too high,” said Amali.

“Are you well pleased?” Lodli asked Erie.

“Of course not,” said Erie, dissolving into tears, “excuse me.”

Erie left the room and Amali stood stiffly by Lodli’s bedside.

“I’m dying. She won’t accept it,” said Lodli.

“Do you know of...what transpired today?” Amali asked.

“My husband making a fool of himself?”

“Yes.”

“I’m surprised it took this long.”

“They have him...along with my own husband and my brother,” said Amali.

“Take him home...tell him to forget me.”

“Do you not...wish to say goodbye? I’m sure we could bear you home.”

“This is my home,” said Lodli.

“But your daughter?”

“She’s not my daughter.”

“How can you say that?”

“I’ve kept this secret for him...because he thought it would be easier to raise Cecili as our daughter when we could not produce a viable egg...”

“What? Who is she?”

“His late sister’s child.”

“Ithi never married,” said Amali.

“She did not reveal the father...hoping to spare her the shame of it, Kyvoro exchanged one our our eggs for Ithi’s...perhaps he thought that to keep it a secret would spare me the pain of never having my own child...instead, it destroyed us.”

“She believes you are her mother! You hatched her and cared for her! How can you say she’s not your daughter?”

Amali was furious. She could hardly bear the thought of a mother abandoning their children when she could barely remember her own.

“But I could do those things no longer...a warrior’s wife was never a life for me.”

“And living in the desert, away from your people was?”

“I have been free, Amali. I am sorry for those I have hurt, but my suffering in Rito Village was eternal. I love the Gerudo and this town with my whole heart...and those odd Hylians who care for me,” Lodli said with such fondness that Amali had to fight back her own tears.

“What...” Amali cleared her throat, “what would you have me tell Kyvoro? He will not leave peacefully, of that I am certain.”

“Tell him...he was a good friend to me when we were young. Do not tell him of this illness.”

Amali nodded, her feelings toward Lodli a ragged mess of resentment and admiration.

“And should anyone wish to follow me...tell them that I have been ever so happy in this place.”

oOo

Kass and Genik’s wings were bound behind their backs with such efficacy that Kass swore the Gerudo guards must have trained hard for this eventuality. To prevent escape, their elbows were tied behind their backs with rope before their wings were crossed and bound at the wrists. 

Kass submitted without a struggle, fearing that fighting back might harm their cause. Genik panicked when they were separated from Amali and had to be subdued by the Gerudo, even as Kass advised him to give himself up.

“No Rito should bear the humiliation of being bound!” Genik spat at their captors as they were marched across the dark desert.

“Be quiet,” Kass told him.

“This one understands,” said one of the guards.

Kass stared straight ahead at the structure out on the desert where they were being taken. The building was hewn from the very rock where it sat and a platform high above the structure served as a lookout. As they approached the building, Kass saw that a figure was tied to the ladder toward the back of the building and overseen by a guard.

Kass and Genik were soon to join Kyvoro. Kass sat on the ground and allowed the Gerudo to tie him to the ladder. Genik looked as though he was about to fight, but submitted when Kass cast him a warning glance.

“What have you done to him?” Kass asked, glancing over his shoulder to the pathetic figure of Kyvoro.

“This one does not understand the rules of Gerudo Town. We allow neither _voe_ nor those who cause destruction in our marketplace. He fought like a wild animal and refused to leave.”

“We will take him with us,” said Kass, “you will never see our faces again.”

“That remains to be decided.”

Kyvoro did not make as sound while Kass attempted to negotiate on his behalf. His head hung in something deeper than shame. His braids had come unbound and hung in his face, and his feathers were discoloured by the sand they had taken on during the day.

“At least give him water. He’s not suited to this climate,” Kass pleaded.

“We know how to take care of our prisoners, Rito. This one refuses food and drink.”

Kass watched as Genik reached through the bottom rungs ladder to touch Kyvoro. Kyvoro jerked away from the contact and Genik earned a smack with the butt of a spear. Kass flinched.

“That wasn’t an escape attempt,” protested Genik.

“Sit still or you will be relocated.”

Kass glance up as the guards rose their spears momentarily toward a newcomer.

“Peace, Sudrey,” came a familiar voice.

Kass was astonished to see Silda dressed in the silks of the Gerudo. The cauterized scar on her shoulder stood out in the moonlight and her eye-patch remained, but she looked somehow softer...though Kass would never be so foolish as to mention that.

“What business have you here?” asked Sudrey.

“Painful though it is to admit, I am acquainted with your prisoners.”

“Only the grey one is a prisoner.”

“I come only to verify their well-being,” said Silda.

“You have verified, now go.”

“I would speak to them,” Silda insisted obstinately.

Sudrey grumbled and called something to the other guards in the Gerudo tongue. They each took a few steps back, but remained within striking distance.

Silda knelt in front of Kass and put a firm hand around the back of his neck, her expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry we meet under such circumstances,” said Kass.

“Amali has bargained for your release. She is not permitted to leave the town tonight, but she is safe with Erie.”

Kass nodded, relief flooding through him.

“No decision has been made on Kyvoro.”

“We’re not leaving without him!” Genik protested.

The guards stirred.

“Genik,” said Kass, trying to brush his wings against Genik’s despite their awkward position, “you must remain calm.”

Kass dreaded the decision, worrying that they might be forced to leave Kyvoro to his fate in spite of Amali’s best efforts.

“Silda,” whispered Kass, “can you offer Kyvoro any immediate help? He’s refusing sustenance.”

Silda rose and walked around the ladder to crouch in front of Kyvoro. The warrior did not look at her and flinched when she reached out to him.

“You must at least drink water,” said Silda taking a skin from one of the guards, “or you will meet your end.”

“I...welcome it,” Kyvoro rasped.

“Don’t be foolish,” said Silda as she uncorked the skin.

Kyvoro turned away from her, refusing the offer.

“Fine,” said Silda, “enjoy your martyrdom.”

“You have spoken with these Rito,” Sudrey announced, “take care on the walk back to the town.”

Silda glanced back at them.

“Tell Amali we’re alright,” said Kass.

They spent the night in silence. The guards no longer tolerated Kass’s questions and Genik had settled in the knowledge that Amali was safe. As the night dragged on into morning Kass could feel the temperature rising around them, though they were shaded beneath the rock. Genik leaned back against the ladder and coughed in the dry air. Unlike Kyvoro, he accepted the water that was offered to him.

“This heat shall be my end,” Genik gasped.

As the morning wore on, even Kass felt listless in the warming desert. He found himself fighting the urge to drift off and caught himself as his beak touched his chest. He opened his eyes suddenly to see Erie standing before him, her hand lifting his beak.

“Blue is your colour,” he told her through his raw throat.

His bonds were cut and he flexed his cramped wings.

“Drink this,” she said, handing him a glass phial.

Kass tipped the elixir back into his mouth and the discomfort of the desert was alleviated. His mind no longer fogged with unyielding heat, Kass looked around to see Amali and Silda holding Kyvoro between them and Genik downing his own elixir.

“You’ve been released,” said Erie, “on the condition that you are never again to be seen in the desert.”

“Kyvoro?” Kass asked.

“Him too,” said Erie glancing over to where Amali and Silda struggled.

“The elixir did nothing. He may be too far gone,” said Silda.

“You might try Kara Kara Bazaar. He could rest there before you set out,” said Erie, “though it would take hours to walk there.”

“Tell us where it is,” said Genik, taking Kyvoro’s wing from Silda, “we’ll fly him.”

They climbed to the top of the stone to take off. Kyvoro protested weakly as Genik and Amali lashed his limp wings over their shoulders.

“Kass,” said Erie.

Kass wrapped his wings around her and wanted to weep. He pulled in Silda and pressed his cheek to the top of her head.

“Take care of each other. And thank you so much for your help,” he told his friends.

“Send our love to Cyd and Murera,” said Erie, “and be on your way by nightfall.”

Kass nodded and followed behind Genik and Amali as they took off with Kyvoro.

oOo

It had been pure grit and stubbornness that had borne Kyvoro to Kara Kara Bazaar. Amali sat shaking with exhaustion on the sun-warmed rocks as Kass and Genik stripped Kyvoro of his leather armour and tried to revive him. They dipped water from the oasis pool and poured it over him and forced him to drink the juice of a fruit one of the vendors had sold them.

While her brother and husband worked to keep their friend alive, Amali watched the shallow breaths Kyvoro took as Kass wet his chest. She could think only of Lodli, wasting away in secret behind the walls of a town far away from where she had hatched.

“Just leave me,” Kyvoro whispered as the sun began to set and the air around them began to cool.

“That would violate our agreement with the Gerudo,” said Amali.

Kass and Genik scrambled to pack for the return trip; their time here was running out.

“She would not even see me.”

Amali could not summon the energy to express anything beyond dispassion. She sorely wished that she could tell Kyvoro the truth—that it might give him some sense of closure. Conversely, it might also reignite his desire to see Lodli. Amali resigned in that moment to keep her visit with Lodli a secret so that Gerudo Town might remain a place where women could escape the world of men.

“Kyvoro,” she said, “it’s time to move on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brand new. I realized as I was editing the following chapters that there is a huge gap and I was missing a big opportunity...I was also trying to wrap this up fairly quickly but that really goes against my motto of taking my time...and where are we going right now anyway? I hope you liked it in spite of the wait!
> 
> Take good care of yourselves!


	22. Leave Your Feathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass gets caught up in Genik’s attempt a coup; they both live to regret it.

“You still aren’t much of a warrior,” Harth told Kass at the Flight Range.

“I hit three targets today,” objected Kass.

“One for each year you’ve practised here,” scoffed Harth.

Kass was not fond of this weekly exercise he had endured with the other male Rito for the past few years. While some of them had moved away from their identities as warriors to keep shops and craft wares, Kyvoro insisted they maintain their vigilance. 

Though the exercises started around the same time two lizalfos had crossed from the mainland to the first stack, Kass noted that it coincided with Kyvoro’s hyper-vigilance upon his return from Gerudo Town. Kass suspected that Kyvoro had been looking for an outlet for his frustrations.

At least, it had begun that way—as a way for Kyvoro to keep himself and the warriors busy. Along the way it had morphed into some sort of ritual of violence that Kyvoro maintained was both in the interest of the village and the stable. Kass thought it was perhaps solely in the interest of their increasingly distant and suspicious First Warrior.

“We are due for a blood moon again soon,” Kyvoro reminded the group gravely at the close of the drill.

Though there had been no incidents following the lizalfos bridge-crossing, Kyvoro often had them clear out nearby monster colonies on a regular basis to keep Rito Stable safe. There were a few colonies that the warriors routinely hit during the blood moon so that they could take advantage of the monsters’ confusion in their first moments of revivification. 

After practice, Kass stood at a distance, observing Harth’s light attitude as he poked Teba’ bare brood patch. He was pondering Rito bonding when Genik landed beside him.

“Kids having kids, right?” Genik said as Teba swatted Harth’s hand away.

“Even living here these past few years has not dulled my fascination with other Rito,” admitted Kass.

“The bonds of warriors are forged in our darkest moments...”

“I don’t believe I’ve been present for too many of those...although I’m not a warrior.”

“Come, we’re about to have one,” said Genik.

With that ominous portent, Kass followed Genik up to the rocks that sheltered the Flight Range from the Hebra wilds. As they perched in the snow, Kass shivered and fluffed his feathers—though he could never seem to keep out the cold as the northern Rito could.

“I’m not dressed for this,” said Kass, “do you mean for me to freeze to death?”

“I only wanted to go somewhere where we wouldn’t be heard,” said Genik, scanning their surroundings.

“Go on.”

Genik sighed, “Kyvoro must be removed from the position of First Warrior.”

“I don’t want any part in this...” said Kass, backing away.

“Kass, he’s not well. He hasn’t been for a long time.”

Though Kass could not deny Genik’s allegation, he protested, “you’re his dearest friend! Surely you know that if this was taken away from him—”

“I’m not taking this lightly,” said Genik, “and I am not interested in taking his position over.”

“Why are you even suggesting it? Why now?”

“I hunted with him last night...it’s been apparent to me for a while that he is acting carelessly...last night I was actually frightened that neither of us would make it back alive. He has been taking on foes in unreasonable numbers...I don’t know if he’s hoping to meet a warrior’s death or if he’s just looking for something to pass the time.”

“I think this about every warrior whenever I am forced to join a hunt—including you, Genik,” Kass said dismissively.

“Then you should take my claim seriously; he’s going to get someone killed in a wasteful display.”

“What would you have me do?” Kass sighed.

“Someone needs to challenge him for the position.”

“Not me surely.”

Genik choked back a laugh.

“Who would you suggest?” Kass asked, a little offended at Genik’s reaction.

“Teba.”

“Surely not...”

Kass may have been unhappy with they way Kyvoro ran things, but he hardly felt inclined to put himself under Teba’s command. He may not have been so antagonistic towards Kass as Harth was, but Kass had regularly been a target of Teba’s derision. It was clear to Kass that Teba lived and breathed the life of a warrior and was aggravated by those who did not.

“Kaneli has overseen Teba’s education for many years. Not only that, but he is the most accomplished warrior among us.”

Kass sighed in disgust as he realized that Teba was the only possible choice for this assignment.

“How do you know Teba will even side with us?”

“Teba wants time to brood his egg with Saki,” said Genik, “warriors usually have their duties reduced in these periods, but Teba hesitates to refuse Kyvoro’s demands lest he be branded a coward.”

“I don’t even like discussing this,” said Kass, wringing his hands.

“We need to get Teba and Harth to agree...its for Kyvoro’s own good.”

“I could never get through to those two.”

“You don’t need to, I’ll take care of it. I just want to know if I have your support in this.”

Kass was torn; he valued his friendship with both warriors, though his relationship with Kyvoro had grown strained in the years since they had pulled him from the desert. Kass had nearly given up on even speaking to the First Warrior, who continued to refuse his offers of help.

“Kass?” pressed Genik.

“You are as a brother to me,” said Kass reluctantly, “you shall always have my support.”

Genik reached out and clasped Kass’s elbow and Kass reciprocated the warriors’ exchange with little enthusiasm.

“I have work to do,” said Genik, eyeing the white Rito that flew above the lake.

oOo

Harth had been teasing Teba about his egg, but his good natured ribbing had dissolved into something darker when he returned to his roost. He and Antilli had not been able to produce a viable egg together and it chafed at both their relationship and their senses of self-worth. 

When Teba and Saki had shared their good news, Harth became even more concerned that the problem lay with him. He had heard it rumoured that the fever from a bokoblin bite could make a male infertile, and Harth’s fever had raged for days. At least Kass and Amali had not had any eggs yet either, he sometimes tried to comfort himself bitterly.

“Harth, what’s wrong?” Antilli asked, seeing his expression.

“Nothing...I’m to hunt with Genik this evening.”

“Again?”

“I’m sorry. Kyvoro detests others having time with their families. He only seems to have gotten worse since Cecili opened the inn.”

Antilli brushed her beak against Harth’s and held his face. Her expression saddened as she stroked his face.

“I hate to see you looking so worn,” she said.

“It’s alright...at least I have something to focus on...”

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” she said, “we’re certainly not the first to have so many unhatched eggs.”

“Four seems like a lot,” said Harth.

“My sister had eight before Cecili...we’re still young, there’s time.”

Harth covered his face and took a deep breath, glancing out at the darkening sky.

“Should we...” he left the rest unsaid.

“Perhaps we’d better.”

They always tried before Harth left for anything remotely dangerous. Though they had been unsuccessful so far, Harth always hoped that if anything happened to him he could at least leave something of himself behind.

It was fast and devoid of romance—that’s just the way it was for Rito; romance and reproduction tended to be separate affairs. As Harth lay wrapped in Antilli’s wings after their congress, he thought in disgust of how he had once caught Cyd and Murera in the midst of the mammalian reproductive act while patrolling the forest behind the stable.

“Goddess...did I just walk in on something?” Genik groused from the door.

“No,” sighed Harth in irritation, burying his face in Antilli’s feathers as her wings tightened around him.

“Then let’s go! Get out of your hammock!”

“Come back to me?” Antilli said, holding his face as he pushed himself up from the hammock.

“Always,” he told her, brushing his beak against hers.

Harth jumped down from the hammock and refastened his clothing with his back to Genik. He slung his falcon bow across his back and headed out to Revali’s Landing with the other Rito. 

They took off in the same silence in which they had walked. As they followed their usual route, Genik swooped in a little closer.

“Haven’t given up then?” Genik said.

“Fuck off,” Harth told him without much enthusiasm.

Harth had never had a particular love for Genik; he found him to be prying and emotionally unstable. However, with Teba trying to spend more evenings incubating his egg, Harth had found himself flying patrol with Genik more frequently.

“C’mon, Harth, I know how badly you want an egg.”

“You couldn’t possibly know.”

“Look, after we’ve done our round, you want to relax for a bit? I think Kyvoro has single-handedly cleared the land of monsters in the last few nights.”

Harth was aware that Kyvoro had been particularly blood-thirsty lately. Though he was his late father’s brother, Harth barely knew Kyvoro beyond his capacity as First Warrior. While Harth was no stranger to taking his frustrations out on monsters’ hides, he found Kyvoro’s increasing wrath to be a little disconcerting.

“Yeah, alright,” Harth agreed, still tired from the earlier drills and the insecurities which weighed on his mind.

They settled atop an ancient column near Hebra Plunge so that they could still survey the wider region. Harth could see no evidence of campfires burning in the usual hot-spots; it seemed that Genik had not exaggerated Kyvoro’s rampage.

“I’m sorry about what I said,” Genik offered, “I know it’s tough. Misa and I tried for five years before we had Fyson.”

“You were quite vocal about not wanting children,” said Harth.

“Doesn’t mean we didn’t try...I know the kind of pressure that Kaneli can put on a couple.”

“Yeah...”

“Really is dead down there,” said Genik looking out toward the stable.

“Kyvoro doesn’t mess about.”

Harth narrowed his eyes at Genik; he had the distinct impression he was being manipulated.

“What?” asked Genik.

“What do you want from me?”

“What do you think of our First Warrior?’

“Is this some kind of trick? Kyvoro has been your friend as long as I’ve known you; he grants you command privileges that should belong to Teba.”

Genik looked strangely relieved and Harth grew uneasy.

“Have you not been bending under the pressure Kyvoro puts on the warriors?”

Harth hesitated. He trusted Genik to keep him safe in battle, but that didn’t mean he was willing to give him any kind of ammunition.

“I can see it in your expression.”

“Whatever this is...I haven’t said anything against Kyvoro,” Harth defended himself quickly.

“You don’t need to. I need your help, Harth.”

Genik explained his intentions and Harth felt a sudden chill that had very little to do with the winter wind.

“I don’t like this,” said Harth, “even against Teba, Kyvoro will not easily yield.”

“Kyvoro will send himself and all of us to early graves if he isn’t stopped.”

“He’s your friend...”

“And if Teba should ever become so foolish, perhaps one day you will have the sad duty of stopping him,” said Genik.

Harth shook his head in disbelief. 

“Teba will never go for this,” said Harth.

“He already has.”

oOo

“Goddess Teba, how can you have agreed to such a foolish plan?” Saki nearly shouted.

She sat in their roost with their egg wrapped close and watched as Harth helped Teba fasten his leather armour. Both warriors wore grim expressions. On either side of her, Antilli and Amali sat trying to calm her.

“It’s first blood; no one’s going to die,” Teba dismissed her concerns.

“If you lose, Kyvoro could have you exiled! How am I supposed to hatch and raise our child alone?”

Amali rubbed her back as Saki painfully held in her growing urge to weep.

“Then I suppose I won’t lose,” said Teba.

“And I’m supposed to just sit here?”

“I’m trying to make a better life for us!” Teba snapped, causing Harth to step back.

“I’ll stay here. I’ll hold the egg,” offered Amali.

“I don’t want someone else incubating our egg!” 

“Well if you die someone will have to help me anyway!” Saki shouted, losing her battle with the tears that had built in her eyes.

“Still...”

“Teba, settle down! Amali’s our friend, she won’t steal your egg!” Antilli snapped.

“It’s alright, Saki, I’ve got it,” said Amali, gently taking the egg and blanket.

Antilli helped Saki stand and wrap her brood patch so she would not freeze in the cold winter air. Saki found the tension of this situation was making her feel shaky and weak and she held Antilli’s wing tightly.

“I don’t want you there,” Teba sighed, looking nearly as exhausted as she felt.

“You don’t have a choice,” said Saki, wiping the tears from her face.

Teba took his feathered edge and kite shield from Harth and left the roost. Saki followed, Antilli’s wing wrapped protectively around her.

By the time they arrived at the salmon pond, Rito spectators lined the outcroppings along the edge of the stack. Kyvoro, too, was already there with Genik and Kass standing grimly behind him. As Antilli ushered her to the rocky outcrop, Saki could not look away from Kass’s expression. He never seemed able to hide his true feelings and Saki could see the guilt in his eyes.

“Whomever draws first blood or forces the other to yield, will assume the position of First Warrior.” announced Kaneli from above the salmon pond.

As Teba and Kyvoro clashed, Saki could not take her eyes from Kass and Genik. They watched the fight grimly, flinched with worry when Teba faltered, and did not cheer their champion. Genik began to look nervous as the fight turned in Kyvoro’s favour.

Teba ducked what seemed to be a clumsy arc above his head. It was an obvious feint.

“Mind my face!” Teba snapped.

“There is no rule from where first blood may be drawn!” Kyvoro returned, his feathered edge glancing off of Teba’s shield.

“You are a tyrant! That’s why we’re here!”

Saki was distracted by the panicked look that Harth cast Genik. Something strange was definitely going on here...The clash of blades refocused Saki’s attention on her husband’s battle. 

Kyvoro was incensed, attacking Teba mercilessly. Teba retreated from the flurry of hacks and slashes that he deflected with his shield. In only a few steps, Kyvoro had cornered Teba by the pond.

“Yield,” he said.

Instead, Teba struck out desperately with his feathered edge. Kyvoro slashed at Teba’s wing, drawing blood and ending the contest. Teba threw down his shield and stalked up the bridge toward the village. The Rito fell silent as Kyvoro stared after his erstwhile challenger, bristling in quiet anger.

Saki saw that Genik looked slightly horrified. Kass was carefully schooling his expression into something more neutral.

“If you are a male of fighting age you are to immediately dispatch yourself to the Flight Range for tonight’s assignments,” said Kyvoro in a booming voice.

“Take me home,” Saki whispered to Antilli as Rito dispersed around them.

Saki was shaking from the tension as Antilli ushered her through the throng of Rito on the stack.

“Harth,” Antilli called to her husband, “let’s go.”

Harth joined them, carrying Teba’s discarded shield. Saki ached to ask him what he knew, but did not want to do so while so many other Rito were around. When they arrived back at the roost, Teba was warming the egg and Amali was trying to tend the cut on his wing.

“It’s fine,” Teba insisted, though the blood showed up starkly on his feathers.

“Kyvoro wants everyone at the Flight Range,” said Harth in numb disbelief.

Saki thought he looked anxious...just as Genik had.

Teba sighed deeply and handed the egg to Saki.

“Don’t you want me to treat your wing?” Saki asked him.

“I ought to wear this as a mark of shame.”

Teba and Harth left the roost. When she was certain they were out of range, Saki turned to Amali.

“Your husband and brother looked like they had something planned that went awry,” she said.

“Who knows what they get up to,” said Amali dismissively.

“I think you do.”

“What are you saying?”

“Teba was coerced into this.”

“Teba can’t be coerced into much of anything,” Amali said, “unless he wants to be.”

“What is it you know, Amali?” Saki asked, her voice quivering with anger.

“Less than you seem to.”

“Please leave. Please get out of my roost.”

oOo

Kyvoro did not bear the challenge well. Kass’s insides were in knots as he landed beside Genik. The warriors had lined up along the outside of the Flight Range, awaiting their instructions. Kass did his best not to glance at Teba and Harth as they arrived, Teba still bearing the bloody mark of defeat upon his wing.

“Teba,” said Kyvoro.

Teba stared back at Kyvoro with a steely gaze.

“There once was a time when your transgression would have been punishable by death.”

“I would hesitate to call a challenge to your leadership a transgression,” Teba returned.

“As in history, the winner has the right to name the challenge what he will,” said Kyvoro, “you and Harth will see to the colony north of the Warbler’s Nest.”

“On our own that’s a suicide mission and you know it!” spat Harth.

Kass looked to Genik, who shook his head minutely. Kass could not let this happen, and pleaded silently with Genik. 

“I will accept my punishment,” said Teba stoically.

Harth glanced in Kass and Genik’s direction in desperation, even as Teba kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. Kyvoro followed Harth’s gaze and his eyes came to rest upon Kass and Genik. The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

“It was me,” Genik finally said in a low voice.

The betrayal and anger that flashed across Kyvoro’s face was sickening.

“It was all of us,” said Kass, trying to step in to rescue Genik.

“No, I started this,” said Genik, “don’t send Teba and Harth out there on their own. If you want to punish someone, let it be me.”

Kass could see Harth trying to suppress the anxious tremors that had taken hold of him while Teba stared at the ground in shame. Kyvoro’s glare seemed to burn right through Kass and Genik.

“You will resume your usual blood moon posts,” said Kyvoro, his voice unfathomably steady, “dismissed.”

The warriors hesitantly began to leave.

“Not you, Genik.”

Kass cast Genik a worried look.

“It’ll be alright, Kass...go let the stable know of our plans.”

oOo

When Kass arrived at the stable, he sat down at the table with Cyd. His friend had become increasingly depressed since Murera had returned to Gerudo Town with their young daughter.

“What kind of place is it that a father can’t watch his daughter grow up?” he lamented, “she calls me ‘Dada’...didn’t think I’d care for it but the world’s full of surprises...”

Kass was relieved to see he was only drinking tea.

“They say it’s going to be a blood moon tonight, a terrible one,” said an old man, “I feel it in my bones.”

“Shut up, Lester,” said Cyd.

“Kyvoro is worried about it, too,” Kass agreed, trying not to let on that anything had transpired among the Rito.

“Kyvoro’s been off his nut for years.”

“Cyd, play nice,” said Kass, thinking of the role Cyd had played in Kyvoro’s torment, “he wants us to help clear a monster colony...that always cheers you up.”

“Might be getting a little old for it,” said Cyd with a shrug, “but why not.”

They were to meet with the other warriors at a wooden structure up the north road. Kass had helped clear this particular structure several times before. 

“Do you think that the monsters remember us when they resurrect?” Kass pondered aloud as they rode out.

He desperately wanted a distraction from the horrible feeling of leaving Genik to Kyvoro’s wrath. Fortunately, Cyd seemed far too wrapped up in his own worries to notice that anything was amiss with Kass.

“Why would you think that?” Cyd asked, visibly appalled at the thought.

“This might sound bizarre, but the bokoblin with the bitten off ear...I think he comes after me. I killed him quite painfully once,” said Kass.

“It’s all in your head,” said Cyd, “we’ve cleaned that one out half-a-dozen times.”

“Do you ever think we should just let them be?” Kass asked.

“And let them attack riders on the way to the stable? Nope.”

“I just mean, maybe they feel that they’re protecting their homes...”

“Monsters don’t have homes, Kass, what is this?”

“I don’t know, just a thought...maybe all of this fighting is making them worse...”

Kass and Cyd tied their horses well away from the currently uninhabited structure. Cyd shed his cloak and set it aside so that he would not be hampered by it in the fight. The two of them made for the structure, mentally preparing to do battle.

Kass could see the red of the moon silhouetting Kyvoro and Genik where they perched above the colony. At the top of the opposite rock face, Kass could see the youthful figures of Guy and Mimo. Kass’s gaze lingered upon Kyvoro, who looked ready for action, but Genik did not stand so tall and proud as usual. Kass wondered what kind of punishment Kyvoro had unleashed upon him.

As the lizalfos reanimated and spotted Kass and Cyd, they leapt into action. Arrows hailed down from above as the Rito dove into the fray. The distraction made Kass’s job easier and he slashed out at the stunned creatures. Beside him, Cyd swore as a lizalfos lashed his eye with its tongue and he gave chase to the creature.

“Cyd, don’t break ranks!” Kass shouted.

Kass had little time to worry about Cyd; is attention snapped back to the battle as heard Guy shriek. The youth fell from the sky and Kass watched Kyvoro dive after him. It was Kyvoro’s agonized screech that most perturbed Kass. 

Kass slashed his way through lizalfos toward the source of the sound. He could see Cyd running beneath the opposite side of the rachitic structure. By the time Kass had made it to where the warrior had fallen, Genik and Cyd were finished with the silver lizalfos that had bloodied its face on Kyvoro’s flesh. Kass froze at the sight of Kyvoro’s wound; he had seen this before.

“Kass, my cloak!” Cyd barked.

Kass ran for the discarded item and grabbed a horse as well. When he returned, Mimo crouched with Guy who cradled his wing, both of them trying to hide their distress. Genik was beside himself, his hands shaking as he stroked Kyvoro’s face. Cyd wrapped his cloak tightly around Kyvoro’s body in an attempt to keep his insides where they belonged.

“We’re not safe here,” Cyd said.

He lifted Kyvoro in his arms and the Rito let out a pained gasp.

“Take him back to the stable on my horse,” Kass said, feeling suddenly calm as he took control, “I’ll sort this.”

Kyvoro protested the entire operation, his blood seeping through Cyd’s cloak as he was finally settled on the horse. Cyd sat behind him, trying to hold him as gently as he could.

“Genik, go with them,” said Kass, giving him a little shake, “fly ahead, make sure the road is safe.”

Genik nodded torpidly and took off ahead of Cyd. Kass approached the novices and Mimo stood.

“Mimo, are you injured?”

“No. Guy is though,” he said, seemingly unsure what to do with himself.

“Get Saki and send her to the stable. Tell her it’s very serious...you should probably wake Cecili as well...Amali can escort her.”

“Alright,” said Mimo shakily as he took off.

Kass crouched beside Guy, being as patient as he could though he desperately wanted to hurry after the others.

“Where are you injured?”

Shaking, Guy revealed the arrow which had punctured his wing. He looked faint for a moment, but Kass grasped his face.

“No swooning. You’re going to be alright, can you walk?”

“Yeah.”

Kass managed to get Guy onto the horse and rode behind him, trying to catch up with the others. They made it back to the stable just behind them. The stable manager was beside himself as they lay Kyvoro on a woven straw mat on the floor. 

Kass forced Guy to sit at the table facing away from Kyvoro who lay shivering on the floor. Genik sat beside Kyvoro, stroking his crest and trying not to weep. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Genik whispered as he pressed his forehead against Kyvoro’s.

Cyd glanced back at Kass with a grim expression. Kass had recalled the same expression the night that the Hylians setting up East Akkala Stable had returned with their wounded.

“Cyd,” Kass said summoning him with a tilt of his head as he accepted clean bandages from one of the stable hands.

Cyd came to the table, his hands and clothing stained with Kyvoro’s blood.

“Can you break the shaft on that arrow?” Kass asked him.

“Yeah.”

Kass stabilized the head of the arrow that had punched right through Guy’s wing. Guy strangled back a shriek as Cyd cleanly snapped off the fletching.

“You’re alright, just take a deep breath,” Kass told him.

Guy inhaled shakily as Kass held his wing steady and Cyd gripped the head of the arrow. Kass wrapped his wing around Guy to keep him from striking out.

“Just do it,” Guy said clenching his eyes shut.

Kass held Guy tightly as Cyd drew the shaft of the arrow through his wing in a swift yank. He swallowed his screech but gripped Kass painfully as he hissed.

“You did well,” Kass told him.

“I’m hoping that’s the only time you’ll say that to me,” Guy said through his clenched beak.

“Not much blood,” said Cyd, touching a cloth to the wound, “let’s get it cleaned and bound. Kass maybe you should...”

Cyd’s eyes darted to Kyvoro’s supine figure. Kass nodded and stood behind Genik, who was still whispering desperately to Kyvoro.

“Saki has been summoned,” Kass told them.

“She may find there... _ah_...isn’t much to be done,” said Kyvoro haltingly.

“Stop. Stop saying that,” Genik begged him.

Kass placed a hand on Genik’s shoulder which he shrugged off jerkily. 

Outside, Kass heard the horses whinnying in alarm as Rito touched down. Saki was the first to enter the stable; the urgency of the situation was not lost on her.

“Kass, Genik. I need some room,” Saki said, pushing past them.

Kass pulled Genik back as Saki unwrapped the cloak.

“Goddess...” she gasped, replacing the cloak over Kyvoro’s exposed insides.

“Saki,” said Kyvoro, reaching out for her wing, “please help me rest.”

Saki’s breath caught in her throat at the request. She shook her head silently, her beak slightly open in disbelief. 

“I cannot bear hours of this pain,” he said, his voice fearful and desperate.

“Kyvoro,” said Kass gently, “your daughter is here,” 

Saki stepped back as Cecili—on the cusp of adulthood and now nearly of a height with the other Rito—pushed to her father’s side. Amali came to stand between her brother and her husband, her expression heartbroken as Cecili wept and pressed her forehead to her father’s. Amali had never said anything about her own father’s death, save that it was a warrior’s death. Kass suspected this was difficult for her as well.

As Amali wrapped her wings around her weeping brother, Kass caught Saki’s eyes.

“Saki,” said Kass, gesturing they should go outside.

Saki followed him out, wiping at the blood on her wings. She was visibly shaken from the seriousness of the injury.

“What he asks, Kass...I can’t...”

Cyd and Guy looked interested in their conversation from their seats at the cooking pot. Kass walked Saki out of earshot. She had her face covered with one wing as she wept.

“Rito don’t abhor a boon in this situation,” said Kass.

“I can’t have the cling of death upon me while I brood my egg,” she said, her breath catching as she tried to suppress her sobs.

Kass reached out to stroke her shoulder. Kass had never seen Saki so distressed. No doubt the sleeplessness of incubating, the tension of the day, and the weight of this decision was breaking down her emotional control.

“I’ve never had to do this before,” she said.

“Do you have a draught that might help Kyvoro with his pain?”

She nodded, still hiccoughing.

“Is it strong?”

“He will sleep painlessly until...”

Kass steeled his resolve against the pit in his stomach.

“Saki, give me your bag.”

She covered her face as she handed it to Kass who took a stoppered phial from it and held it up for Saki’s inspection. She nodded and Kass turned to go back into the stable inn.

“Kass,” said Saki, “you may find that our friends will be unhappy with this decision...particularly in light of today’s events.”

“I leave the decision to Kyvoro...you don’t have to be here...I’ll see to this.”

Saki gripped him just above his elbow, her tears spilling down her feathers.

“Thank you.”

Kass entered the stable, his expression grim. Amali pulled Cecili back from Kyvoro and Kass crouched down beside the failing warrior. He held up the phial.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Kass asked, the steadiness of his voice surprising him.

Kyvoro nodded and reached a shaky wing to cup Kass’s face. Kass felt the drying blood, sticky against his feathers.

“I’m sorry that we part...in such bad faith, my friend,” Kyvoro grimaced.

Kass clutched Kyvoro’s hand and pressed it to his cheek.

“Please forgive me,” Kass begged.

Kyvoro nodded. Kass pulled to cork from the phial with his beak and placed it into the hand he held.

“Thank you for taking me in,” said Kass, leaning in to press his forehead to Kyvoro’s.

Kass found he couldn’t stay and left the stable blinded by his tears. He stumbled through the snow out away from the stable as far as he could could managed before his knees gave out and he was overtaken by the sobs that never quite made it out from his chest.

“It’s alright.”

Cyd had followed Kass from the cooking pot. Kass clung to the arms which wrapped around him, crying silently into Cyd’s snowquill tunic.

“You did a kind thing,” Cyd reassured him, stroking Kass’s head.

Kass gripped the feathered tunic, wracked by guilt even Cyd could not smooth away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, couple of things. It seems like Rito don’t have much of a cultural concept of privacy. I debated the thing with Harth a little bit and decided that this fic has never really been wholesome family fun. 
> 
> Death has also been central to this fic so while I will miss Kyvoro—another character who demanded a story when I saw a name on a name generator—it’s time for Teba to start shouldering some more responsibility now that he’s a proper adult.
> 
> On the choice of blades vs. bows for the duel...it just seemed like there was a higher chance of someone dying from a bow duel that required first blood...it’s perhaps not the most Rito thing that’s ever happened, but I thought it was fun and dramatic.
> 
> This was a long chapter, they won't get longer than this...probably not, the next one is like half this.


	23. A Clutch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass feels like an outcast for the relief he offered Kyvoro and Genik is not helping.

The role of First Warrior was taken over by Teba and the paranoid training and hunting activities that Kyvoro had insisted upon were scaled back. Since Kyvoro’s death, Kass was summoned to the Flight Range with the other Rito only once. It was an uncomfortable gathering where Teba announced that training exercises would occur as needed. That was where Kass first realized that the rest of Rito were physically avoiding him.

The other Rito took off from the Flight Range, but Kass stayed, hoping that he might catch Genik. Sadly, Genik, too, was avoiding him and left without even looking in Kass’s direction. At first, Kass had been fine with this—he sometimes wondered if Kyvoro had taken the dive intent on a warrior’s death after Kass and Genik had betrayed his trust—seeing Genik filled Kass with fresh guilt. He tried to remind himself that Kyvoro had gone in to protect a novice who had been injured, but there was always that persistent thought. Kass had never even found out what had transpired between Kyvoro and Genik before they attacked the colony.

“You’ve been dismissed, Kass,” Teba called from the Flight Range landing.

“Why did everyone stand so far away from me?” Kass asked, staring down into the wind tunnel.

“Do you really not know?”

“No one will speak to me...even Amali barely says a word to me.”

“You have the cling of death upon you.”

“Is that why you speak to me from such a distance?”

“No one is likely to speak to you until after the new moon for the decision you took. It’s why you could not give a feather at Kyvoro’s funeral.”

“Who decides this?” Kass asked in irritation.

“It is simply how it is done.”

Kass laughed bitterly, covering his eyes.

“You are a backward and superstitious people!”

Teba fixed Kass with his humourless gaze.

“Most who bear this curse leave the village until the moon has turned,” Teba advised.

“Well I’m not going to give it any credence...the new moon is only a few day off as it is,” Kass said, “why are you bothering to speak to me, anyway?”

“As you say...the Rito are overly superstitious.”

“And why aren’t you?”

Teba sighed.

“I recently suffered a humiliating loss...it should have disqualified me from ever being First Warrior. If I gave into that misbelief, it would be difficult for me to trust that I should be here.”

“You are where you should be,” said Kass, though he may have doubted it only a week prior.

“Then I shall strive to do my best.”

Kass left the Flight Range, determined that he would not give in to this shunning. As Kass walked down the boardwalk to his roost, he was checked rather violently by Harth attempting to walk right through him.

“You ought to watch your step, Harth,” warned Kass, his tone rather more menacing than usual.

“Don’t threaten me!”

Kass caught sight of Harth’s expression and realized this might be the rare occasion that Harth had not singled him out for some misguided masculine competition. He was strangely relieved that there were at least some among the Rito who were not shunning him...even if it was Harth.

“Are you alright?” Kass asked, seeing the distress on Harth’s face.

“I don’t want to talk about it with you,” snapped Harth.

“Because you don’t think I would understand or because you think I would...poison your drink or something?”

“That’s dark, Kass,” said Harth, taken aback, “no one thinks that.”

“I’m sorry maybe I’m...a little on edge too,” Kass apologized, surprised that he had vocalized such a dire thought.

Harth dismissed Kass’s apology with a wave. Kass was surprisingly disappointed; even a fight with Harth was more appealing than the emptiness of grief and guilt.

“Right then,” said Kass, “I’ll just...”

“You ah...you were bitten by a bokoblin once, right?” asked Harth in lieu of nothing.

“Yes, I was. Many years ago,” said Kass, confused about why this might come up as a topic of casual conversation.

“And it made you ill?”

“It did.”

“There’s um...maybe it’s an old wives tale...but...” Harth trailed off.

“What?”

“You know what, just forget I said anything,” said Harth, turning and heading up the boardwalk.

“Harth!” Kass called after him, but the other Rito had disappeared around the bend.

“Don’t worry about him,” came a voice behind him.

Kass turned to see Saki with a plate of salmon, no doubt returning to her roost from the cooking pot. She looked exhausted and Kass realized she and Teba must be nearing the final days of incubation.

“Surprisingly, this was the most pleasant interaction I’ve ever had with Harth,” Kass admitted.

“Have you been doing...alright?” she asked, keeping a safe distance.

“I suppose so,” Kass lied.

How could he tell Saki about the tangle of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him when he had made the decision to give Kyvoro the entire dose of pain reliever so that she would not have to feel this way? Saki’s expression suggested that she realized Kass was lying, but she did not push him. 

“Should you need anything,” she offered, “anything at all.”

Kass swallowed hard and nodded. As she went on her way, Kass realized that she carried some guilt from that terrible night as well; perhaps it was a guilt that no one else understood quite so well as Kass.

oOo

Even after the new moon, Kass had seen very little of Genik. Though Teba had eased the training schedule, it did not stop Genik from spending hours alone at the Flight Range. Kass would have likely been ignorant to the whole thing had Misa not approached Amali to watch Fyson while she haggled with Hylian merchants at the stable.

“He’s out hunting every night and training every day!” Misa griped, setting Fyson on the floor of Kass and Amali’s roost.

“He’s in pain,” sighed Amali.

“Everyone is is pain!” Misa snapped, “I came of age alongside Kyvoro! His daughter weeps in her inn everyday! Life must go on!”

“Misa...”

“I have to meet the merchants,” Misa said, leaving before Amali could say anything else on her brother’s behalf.

“Can you play the music?” Fyson asked Kass, gesturing to the accordion in its case.

Kass took out the accordion and Fyson happily ran in circles around the roost as he played.

“I didn’t know the warriors were hunting every night again,” said Amali.

“They’re not. Teba has them only responding to attacks and close sightings. If Genik’s hunting, he’s doing it on his own,” Kass told her.

“I’m quite worried about him,” Amali told Kass.

“He lost his friend,” said Kass, never ceasing to play his accordion for little Fyson.

 _He betrayed his friend_ , Kass thought miserably. 

Amali sat down and pressed her hand against her stomach. That halted his playing. He rose and stood by her side.

“Are you ill?”

“No, I’m alright...”

Kass stroked her face and brushed his beak over her head. Amali had been acting quite uncomfortable for most of the day.

“I think you should go check on Genik,” she said.

“He’s refused to speak to me...”

“Even Genik is not completely unreasonable...you honoured Kyvoro’s request.”

“Perhaps,” said Kass glumly.

“At the very least let him know that his son is in our roost and missing him.”

“He’s your brother.”

“Which is why he won’t talk to me about anything that’s bothering him. Go talk to him.”

“Are you sure? You seem unwell...” Kass said hesitantly.

“I promise, I’m perfectly fine. Just go.”

“Alright, I’ll try,” Kass gave in.

Kass wrapped up against the winter winds and set out for the Flight Range. He landed in the building and lit the fire under the cooking pot for warmth. After warming his freezing wings, he stood on the landing and peered down into the Flight Range. 

Genik plummeted nearly to the water below. He spread his wings to catch the updraft and whipped skyward before loosing arrows into the targets with a concentration born of anger and grief.

“Genik,” called Kass.

“I can’t hear you for the wind,” he shouted obstinately.

Kass made a dismissive noise.

“Go away, Kass.”

“Only if you come with me.”

“Why are you here?”

“Came to see you.”

He landed beside Kass and stalked past him into the structure. Kass followed him irately.

“Why?” Genik asked tersely.

“Because your family is worried about you!”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“Stop this. I know you grieve for Kyvoro but you miss meals, you speak to no one, you’ve been hunting constantly—I presume on your own...”

“You think this is grief?” Genik asked, his expression pained.

“What would you name it?”

“Remorse. Shame.” 

Genik sat down by the fire and held his head in distress. Kass was hesitant to join him but took a cautious step nearer and settled beside him.

“We— _I_ tried to take from a broken man the last thing he held dear,” said Genik.

“It wasn’t just you, Genik, it was all of us...Teba, Harth, me...”

“I started it,” said Genik wrapping his wings around the back of his head.

“Kyvoro wasn’t well,” said Kass, though he only half-believed this excuse, “nothing we did changes the fact that he was abusing his position.”

“You didn’t know him as I did.”

“And you didn’t take the decision lightly.”

“No...but I took it upon myself to make such an important decision...”

“Someone had to...”

Genik took a deep breath to regain control of himself. Kass thought he looked as though he would shatter at any moment.

“Kyvoro taught me everything,” said Genik, “my father didn’t have the patience. He always told me I was far too soft to be a warrior...but someone had to care for Amali when she was so young and Dad never seemed to have a scrap of kindness in him. Kyvoro wisely realized that being a warrior is about focus not brutality. He was only a novice when he took me under his wing, but I needed all the help I could get. We practised endlessly, and I went from just trying to keep up with the other Rito my age to outmatching them.”

Genik had begun to roll an arrow between his fingers, staring at it as he spoke.

“When he came back from the desert...he wasn’t the same. He no longer cared about leadership and honour or even the safety of his warriors...he just wanted to kill his pain. He drove everyone away: you, me, even his daughter...he was no longer fit to be First Warrior...even now, I know I was right to act...”

“It was a difficult decision,” said Kass.

Genik nodded staring mournfully into the fire.

“Do you remember...he dismissed all of the warriors except for me.”

Kass nodded.

“He was ready to send Teba and Harth to their deaths in his wrath...but for me...”

Genik closed his eyes and exhaled shakily.

“I was sure he was going to strike me down...but the only thing he said was...”

“Genik?” Kass prompted when Genik trailed off, staring hard into the fire.

“...he said he would leave on his own terms.”

Genik threw aside the arrow he had been toying with.

“A warrior’s death,” Genik barely whispered as he covered his face, “we drove him to it.”

Kass wrapped a wing around his grief-stricken friend. Genik fought Kass as he pulled him close, but he broke down under Kass’s relentless embrace, pressing his face into Kass’s feathered tunic.

“We can’t be made responsible for the choices of others,” said Kass as he rested his head against Genik’s.

“How are you...so unaffected?” Genik wept.

“I’m not,” admitted Kass, his own voice shaking, “I’m wracked with guilt every moment...but I don’t think he sought a warrior’s death...I can’t think it. He intervened to save a novice just as he would to save either of us.”

Genik pulled back, wiping at his eyes.

“It occupies my mind at every moment. I don’t know how to get through this,” Genik fretted.

Genik looked so lost that Kass reached out to rest a hand on his wing. Loss was not new to Kass, but this pain was fresh and raw and tangled with the conflict of how he had left things with Kyvoro.

“You just do,” said Kass, “you wake every morning until it hurts less. One day you’ll realize that the pain you’ve carried for so long isn’t so sharp and insistent. One day...you may even find that you can get through the day without even thinking about it at all.”

“All the things that have happened to you...do you really go days without thinking about them?”

“They’re always there in an abstract way, I won’t deny it,” said Kass, “but yes.”

oOo

It was evening when Kass and Genik returned to Kass and Amali’s roost. Kass was surprised to find Misa in the roost. She had her wings around Amali who sat shaking and looked about to cry. The two were huddled at the back of the roost, ignorant to Fyson pulling Kass’s books from a low shelf.

“Amali, what is it?” asked Kass in a panic.

Amali unfolded her wings and Kass saw the speckled, slightly pinkish egg resting in her lap. Kass’s heart stopped for a moment.

“Are you alright?”

Amali nodded, still apparently in shock. Kass sat down beside her and held her close running his beak through her feathers, his heart buoyant with this new possibility.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Kass,” Misa cautioned, as Kass took up her place beside Amali, “we need to candle the egg.”

Kass wasn’t really sure what that meant. 

“Amali, if you’re alright, I need to close the shop...and pay Verla for his help...”

Misa left the roost and Genik gathered Fyson in his wings and replaced Kass’s books. He approached them looking concerned.

“Amali?”

“I was unprepared, that’s all,” she said.

Kass stroked her braids as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” Kass told her.

“To be fair...I sent you out.”

Genik handed Kass a folded blanket from atop a chest. Kass wrapped it around Amali and the egg.

“Get ready to never sleep again,” he warned them smugly.

“You sleep all the time, Dad,” Fyson said.

“Speaking of sleep...”

“Nooooooooo!” Fyson screeched dramatically, bursting into tears.

“You’re just proving my point.”

Amali watched the tantrum, transfixed.

“Don’t let this deter you...I’ll visit tomorrow,” Genik said, carrying his protesting child out of the roost.

Kass could barely contain his joy at the prospect of a child and kept affectionately nuzzling his beak into Amali’s feathers. Amali’s expression suggested she was far more afraid.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“We don’t even know if it’s viable yet. Maybe we should...manage our expectations,” she said.

“How will we know?”

“We have to candle it.”

“I’m afraid that is another thing I have lived in ignorance of.”

“We need to shine light through it to see if the chick is growing. We won’t be able to tell for a few days though.”

“You seem upset,” said Kass, “are you not happy?”

“I haven't decided.”

“I thought you wanted this...”

Amali hesitated, staring down at the bundle in her lap.

“I don’t know if I’m cut out for it...parenthood.”

“You’ll be wonderful,” said Kass holding her face, “you’re so good with Fyson.”

“Yes, well I get to send him home after a few hours.”

“You will be perfect,” Kass assured her.

“Well...I’m sure you will be...and one good parent is better than none, I suppose.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t have to do it alone.”

“I thank the Goddess that I ended up with you,” she said resting against him.

Amali and Kass fell asleep together in the back of their roost that night wrapped in the blanket.

oOo

The arrival of a second egg a day later was somehow more unexpected than the first. While Amali had been better prepared to deal with it, Kass had fainted at the sight of its arrival. 

When Kass awoke, Genik was with them in their roost. He fanned Kass with his wing to try and bring him round. Amali nestled the two eggs close to her body in a blanket.

“Your head alright?” Genik asked as Kass slowly sat up.

“Yes. I’m sorry,” said Kass, embarrassed by his squeamishness, “that was...new territory for me...”

“I’m glad you weren’t here for the first one,” said Amali as the fuzziness cleared from Kass’s vision.

“Yes, but my son was,” said Genik, “and that led to an astonishingly uncomfortable talk.”

“I sent him for his mother the moment I realized what was happening,” said Amali defensively.

“You two can bicker right through anything, can’t you?” Kass commented irately.

“We’re not bickering,” Genik muttered.

“This is unusual, though? Two eggs?” asked Kass, settling beside his wife.

“It’s uncommon,” said Amali.

“Well...two children...I mean we’ll have a head start, won’t we?”

“You’re very optimistic,” said Genik.

“Not that I’m not grateful for your help, Genik,” said Kass, “but I think we’d like a moment.”

Genik left the roost without another word and Kass strongly suspected he was trying to pretend he was not offended.

“We can handle two,” said Kass, taking the eggs when Amali passed them to him.

“You’re still getting ahead of yourself,” she said.

oOo

By the time they had candled the first egg and saw the blood vessels spidering through it there was a third egg in the mix. Kass was pleased to say he hadn’t fainted that time.

“Kass...we don’t have to incubate them all,” said Amali cautiously.

“Are you saying we just leave it?”

“We could, but it might be in our interest to...give it to another Rito who is unable to have children.”

Amali looked worn and desperate. 

Kass’s heart had stopped when he saw golden light illuminating the egg and the life it held, but Amali had already been distressed that she had produced yet another egg. The thought that someone like Harth might raise his child worried him immensely. 

“Do you want that?” Kass asked carefully, not wanting to pressure Amali into anything just to please him.

“I don’t know...three at once?”

“I don’t know if I could stand to see my child so close yet not be able to be their parent,” Kass admitted.

Amali nodded her reluctant agreement.

“Genik says I’m an optimist anyway...it could be that not all of these eggs will hatch,” Kass said.

“I suppose we’ll see.”

oOo

As the fourth egg arrived, Amali wept and Kass could only hold her hand as he sat with three eggs already blanketed in his lap. Genik and Misa had taken to stopping by several times a day and had missed its arrival by mere moments. The fourth egg so worried them that Genik summoned Saki. 

Though caring for a new hatchling herself, Saki came immediately to see to Amali. Genik took Fyson out to the landing to occupy the chick and keep out of everyone’s way. Misa tried to soothe Amali’s panicked sobs as Saki prodded at her abdomen. Kass held the four eggs, watching helplessly.

“Rito used to lay many eggs like this generations ago if my grandmother’s books are accurate,” Saki said, “but they rarely all hatched. Don’t fret, this is a good sign for the health of your clan.”

“I just want it to stop,” Amali sobbed as Misa held her.

“It will stop soon,” the healer assured her.

“Thank you, Saki,” said Misa.

Kass reached out for Amali’s hand; it was killing him to see her so afraid. Genik returned with Fyson bobbing along behind him as Saki left the roost. Genik looked as helpless as Kass felt.

“You need rest,” Misa said, coaxing Amali into her hammock.

Genik passed Fyson off to Misa and sat down beside Kass.

“Here,” he said, casting aside his leather layer and carefully taking the eggs from Kass.

“Genik...you don’t have to do this...”

“Amali needs you right now. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

Kass gripped Genik’s shoulder in thanks, knowing how much he detested this. It was a testament to the worry that this was causing their family that Genik so willingly took the eggs. Kass climbed up into the hammock next to his wife and wrapped her in his wings.

“The eggs?”

“It’s alright. Your brother is here, he has them,” said Kass, smoothing her feathers.

“What if I can’t stop?” she sobbed in a whisper.

“Saki said it will stop.

“I’m so tired! I fear this will be my end!” she wept.

“Just close your eyes and rest,” Kass said, gently running his beak through her feathers, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Genik stayed the rest of the afternoon and entire night so that Kass could stay by Amali’s side to keep her calm. Kass had never been so grateful for Genik.

oOo

The next day, as Amali held the fifth egg she had delivered, she stared at it dully.

“When to we start giving them away? At what number?” she asked hoarsely.

Amali had gone from anxious to listless, and Kass still worried despite Saki’s confidence that this was nearly through.

“I want to say never,” said Kass.

Kass was already exhausted and sore from holding the eggs against the thinning feathers on his abdomen for long hours, but he could not imagine giving them up.

“Is it this one?” Amali asked.

Kass stared at the clutch of eggs carefully wrapped in his lap.

“Not this one,” Kass said.

“Will this ever end?”

“Surely, it must.”

By the end of the week, Amali no longer seemed to fear that she would produce herself to death. By that time, they had candled all five eggs and saw that each of them was developing inside of their shells.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really unsure about posting this chapter. I was going to do it yesterday and I wasn’t happy with it...perhaps because it’s such an emotional mixed bag. Obviously it’s going to be a bit domestic for a couple chapters, but I’ll get back to the usual action and character clash again soon.


	24. Eggs to Arrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amali and Genik finally have an adult conversation.

As the weeks wore on, Amali grew more accustomed to the daily routine of incubating their clutch of eggs. However, the frequent visits from the other Rito often left her on edge. Saki came by regularly to check on Amali, sometimes with little Tulin slung to her body. The visits from Saki were pleasant enough; she lent a book to Kass and brought Amali a liniment for her pains.

Genik and Misa stopped by daily, sometimes together, often with Fyson. Amali was unbothered by their visits, though she could tell that Kass was growing irritated with Misa as she tried to reorganize their roost according to her vision. In these instances, he fell politely silent, his beak clamped shut as Misa tried to suggest where the children’s hammocks might hang.

“Are they really all still growing?” Misa asked after they had once again candled the eggs to check their development, “if they all hatch you won’t have room to stand!”

Kass became quite agitated at Misa’s flippant remark. Thankfully, Genik stepped in to suggest that they might be making nuisances of themselves, mouthing _‘I’m sorry’_ behind Misa’s back as they headed out to the boardwalk.

“I wish she wouldn’t be so casual about whether or not they’re going to hatch!” Kass said, holding the eggs close, “I’m so worried about losing any as it is.”

“It’s alright, my love,” said Amali, “we often have a dark sense of humour about such things here...perhaps it’s how we cope with how often eggs simply do not hatch.”

Kass was still quite unsettled when Amali suggested he take some time to himself and she would take over. As she warmed the eggs near her body, she found that her worry was quite opposite to Kass’s. What if they did indeed all hatch? How could she and Kass possibly care for so many fragile little beings? She felt ashamed for such thoughts.

Though Misa had upset Kass terribly, it was the well-wishing which Amali really dreaded. When Antilli had stopped by, Amali could hear the strain in her congratulations. Amali knew her friend was suffering silently as Antilli watched as she and Saki succeed where she so desperately desired to. Sometimes, Amali thought she would trade places with Antilli...that, too, filled her with shame.

Worse than that was when Kaneli had stopped to congratulate them.

“I am so pleased to hear of your good news,” he said, entering their roost.

“Thank you, Elder,” they said dutifully.

“Kass...I could have never imagined that your joining our tribe would have such a wonderful outcome! Finally, we will have some new blood in the next generation!”

As the elder left Amali could see Kass was again trying to hide his agitation as he cradled the eggs close.

“I have never felt so much as a means to an end,” sighed Kass.

“Who knew that performing your duty with such excellence would feel so terrible?” said Amali, a half smile breaking through in the absurdity of it all.

“I’ve missed your smile so much,” said Kass, reaching out to pull her near.

“I didn’t even realize it had been gone...this has been...not as I imagined it would.”

“It’s not as I expected either...”

“At least we’re not fighting as Genik and Misa did.”

“To be fair to Misa...I promise not to leave for an expedition as Genik did,” said Kass.

“And me...I spent half of that time holding their egg...though it was not nearly so uncomfortable as this...”

“Three moons to go,” Kass assured her, though he sounded as though he needed the encouragement just as much as she did.

oOo

Amali kept drifting off with the eggs in her lap. It was the dark hours of the early morning and Kass slept soundly in his hammock. They had swapped places some time in the night when Kass told her he could no longer bear the discomfort of holding the eggs. Amali hardly felt much better, but sharing the burden for shorter periods seemed to be less harrowing than Genik and Misa’s half-day approach to incubating.

Amali only realized that she had drifted off again when she felt a wing wrap over hers. She opened her eyes to see her brother, holding her wings against the eggs so she wouldn’t drop them if she was startled. The sky was the greyish-white of cloudy winter, but no snow fell as far as as Amali could see.

“Is everything alright?” she whispered.

“I’ve come to take you away.”

“What? Now you decide to flee, when we’re finally settled?” she asked in alarm.

“Goddess, no! Do you think I would leave Fyson and Misa?”

“You forget; I caught you trying to leave Misa.”

“That was a long time ago...and I would never leave my son,” said Genik defensively.

“What is it you propose?”

“Since you have kept up your archery—a hunt.”

“Goddess Genik, you want gallivant out through the snow on the trail of bokoblins?”

“This is where your mind goes? _Fowl_ , Amali.”

“I thought we secured our stores through what the Hylians farm.”

“Our store is fine. I don’t miss the insecurity of the old days,” said Genik, “but I do miss this...and you need to get out.”

“I don’t know...I’m not sure Kass is feeling so well...”

“Misa will stop by later if he needs any help. You need this.”

“Alright,” Amali agreed.

Genik woke Kass who—after his initial confusion—seemed to think this was an excellent idea. Kass took the eggs from her and settled at the back of the roost. Amali pulled on her snowquill tunic before her leather layer so it would not chafe her brood patch.

“I suppose you’ll bring back dinner,” Kass teased.

“Not if you take that tone,” she quipped.

Amali followed Genik out to Revali’s Landing and they set out towards a wooded dale near Dronoc’s Pass. The cold air was invigorating, and Amali felt more alert than she had in weeks. She was reminded of when she and her brother were children and used to ‘hunt’ butterflies on the stacks.

“You want this one?” asked Genik, pointing out the white pigeon that bobbed along atop a rock.

Amali drew her bow and released in the air. The arrow caromed off the stone and startled the pigeon into flight. Amali spread her wings and caught herself, her bow clasped in her talons.

“You missed,” said Genik in surprise.

“I don’t get to practice as much as you do!” she said sharply.

“I suppose we’ll have to practise more then,” he said increasing his altitude.

Amali followed her brother upwards and they continued their hunt. Amali noticed that Genik was allowing her to take all of the shots while he bagged anything she managed to hit. As the morning wore on into afternoon, snow began to fall gently from above. Amali and Genik sat on a craggy rock formation to rest.

“Well, you managed to get a few,” said Genik, “I’ve certainly had worse hunts myself.”

“Was this strictly for my benefit?” Amali asked, dangling a leg over the edge of the stone.

“Is it obvious?”

“What prompted this?”

“Just thought we ought to spend some time together.”

“Genik...”

“You’ve seemed so down since you laid,” he sighed, “I just thought perhaps you needed to get away from it for a while.”

“Don’t think that I don’t appreciate it—I do—but I don’t think I can just run off because I’m upset.”

“That’s not what I think, and that isn’t what this is. If I had to do it again, maybe I wouldn’t have run off before Fyson hatched either.”

The silence stretched between them.

“I’m alright you know, you don’t have to worry about me,” Amali told him.

“You always play tough, but I know you. I’m...”

Amali stared at him as he avoided her gaze and trailed off.

“You’re what?”

“I wish you would...tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing,” said Amali, “I’m just...well you know how it is.”

“I know how it is to incubate a single egg that you never wanted because you think you’re going to be just as bad as your own father.”

Amali blinked; she had never heard Genik admit to such a worry. It was not exactly a foreign thought to her either.

“You’re nothing like Dad,” Amali told him, “the way you are with Fyson...Dad never had such patience. I fear I’m more like him than you are.”

“Are you kidding? You at least have a modicum of empathy.”

“What a resounding endorsement of my emotional capacity.”

“Well you can’t expect me to say ‘you are lovely and kind like Mom’ because you’ll either hit me or cry!”

Though buried behind Genik’s sarcasm, Amali was taken aback by his compliment. Genik had always treated her as a child—she assumed that that was still how he saw her.

“I will neither hit you, nor cry—because I’m rather more like Dad than you think,” she told him.

Amali held her head. She could not measure up to the loving kindness Genik had always ascribed to their mother. In her foggy memories, their mother had been faultless in her care and affection for her children; it was an ideal she could not hope to live up to.

“Goddess, I don’t know what I’m doing!” she confessed, “Kass is so thrilled; he’s in love with them all already!”

“Kass loves easily,” said Genik.

“And given what he’s gone though...I should be even more ashamed that I cannot do the same!”

“It’s not a contest. Just be happy to have him.”

“I am, of course I am! If it had been someone other than him...I fear I would have smashed the eggs in fright!”

Genik put his wing around her.

“That’s such a terrible thing to say,” she sighed.

“You don’t have to worry about offending me,” Genik told her, “my feelings about you are already set.”

“I’m just so terrified...when you hold them, it seems so abstract, and then all of the sudden you realize that this strange exercise of keeping these objects warm is just the first step to parenthood...how do you change those feelings?”

Genik huffed a humourless laugh.

“It’s always scary,” he said, “I’m scared all of the time—but you get used to it and you just do what you can.”

“Do you think that’s what Dad’s problem was?”

“Maybe...maybe that’s why he was so worried about whether or not we were tough enough...I’m not saying he’s right, just—maybe he was just a person.”

Amali shrugged off her brother’s wing and let the silence stretch between them.

“What if I can’t love them?” she asked quietly.

“Are you really that worried?”

“You loved Fyson the moment you saw him...I saw your face.”

“Don’t think about it...you have so much pressure on you right now. I know Kaneli’s being obnoxious and the congratulations are so unbearable but you’re not alone. Never.”

Amali was not used to her brother’s sudden unequivocal support.

“Wow. You must really be worried about me,” she deflected.

“Of course I’m worried about you! Why are you turning this into a battle of who feels the least?”

Amali sighed and hung her head.

“I’m alright, Genik. I promise.”

oOo

“Well, my eyes must deceive me,” said Kass, “because Cyd darkens my doorway.”

Cyd closed the distance to where Kass incubated the eggs at the back of the roost.

“When I asked why you stopped coming down to the stable, Genik told me that you were expecting...I didn’t think you would be the one carrying them.”

Kass stared at Cyd...surely he was joking?

“I’m just holding them—are you really that ignorant of...”

Kass trailed off and Cyd raised his hands defensively.

“Hey pal, there are some strange things in this world!”

“What brings you to the village anyway?” Kass asked.

“Had to bring some stuff to the tailor...got into a bit of a scrape with that one-eared bokoblin you’re always going on about.”

“He’s vicious, isn’t he?”

“I think you might be right about the respawned monsters...he seems to know who I am.”

“Sit with me...I’d offer you something but I’m a little preoccupied.”

Cyd sat down beside Kass, his limp hair blowing in the breeze that cut through the roost. Kass drew his blanket a little closer. Cyd was staring at Kass with a strange expression.

“So you don’t...”

Kass stared at Cyd as he once more trailed off, drawing a circle in the air with his finger.

“I’m fairly certain I’ll regret this,” sighed Kass, “but just ask.”

“Nest.”

“I think that should be obvious.”

“Just tell me what’s going on? I haven’t a clue how this works.”

“The eggs have to be kept warm and then they’ll hatch...this seems like stuff you should know after living three years at Rito Stable...”

“Hey!” snapped Cyd defensively, “what do you know about how we go about it?”

“Everything,” said Kass, “remember? I grew up among the Sheikah.”

“This egg thing...seems easier than the way we do it...I thought Murera was about to die when she had Hanin.” 

“Easy might be a matter of perspective,” said Kass, “I fear every second that I may jostle them if I breathe too hard.”

“Maybe Gorons have it easier...I heard they just spring from the rocks.”

“Now there’s an unsettling thought.”

“I have to tell you something,” Cyd said seriously.

Kass nodded.

“I’m trying to transfer to the Gerudo Canyon stable.”

“Oh...” said Kass, his face falling.

“I miss my little girl so much...it seems such a cruel thing the Gerudo do. Just when you find happiness...they’re expected to just go back home, raise their children in the ways of Gerudo...I don’t mind that, really; I want Hanin to know her people...it just seems so wasteful to marry if you can’t spend your lives together.”

Kass knew this had been difficult for Cyd. Since Murera and Hanin had left in the autumn, Cyd had spent the winter with only one letter from his wife. Illiterate beyond his signature, Cyd periodically had Kass read him the letter aloud and carried it with him wherever he went.

“I didn’t know that the Gerudo returned home until Murera fell pregnant...I guess it was foolish to think we could all be happy at the stable here together.”

Kass rested his hand on his friend’s back as Cyd pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“You should be with your family,” said Kass, though the thought of Cyd leaving made him feel empty and alone, “or as close as you can be.”

“As long as Nikalph lets me go...maybe even if he doesn’t.”

“Just don’t sneak away without a goodbye.”

“Couldn’t do that to you...you helped me become something better than I was...there isn’t a kinder friend in the whole of Hyrule.”

“I’m quite emotional from brooding, so you’d better stop before you make me weep,” warned Kass.

Cyd snorted in response.

oOo

Harth was trying to drown his disappointment alone at the Flight Range. He had fashioned a set of swallow bows and was testing them with the exacting standard his father had insisted upon. When he was younger the discipline of the process had bored him, but in his current state, the tedium of routine kept him focused.

The night was growing dark when Harth was surprised by a light in the Flight Range structure.

“Teba?” he called as he swooped upward.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said Genik.

Genik was seated near the cooking fire and ran a whetstone over his feathered edge. Harth lit on the landing and placed his bow aside with the other two he had been testing.

“I don’t know why I would expect Teba anyway,” said Harth, “he has enough on his plate with his son.”

“He was inspecting the guard when I left,” said Genik.

“And you’ve come to what? Plan another coup?”

The words were out before Harth had thought twice about it. Genik narrowed his eyes as he inspected the edge of his blade.

“You know Harth, the Hylians at the stable have a sobriquet for you—they call you ‘the asshole’. I had to have it explained to me, but I must admit, it’s rather fitting.”

“I’m not myself right now,” sighed Harth as a means of excusing his behaviour.

“I would say you’re very much yourself.”

Harth couldn’t bring himself to continue the sparring match he had begun. He knew it was cruel to bring up the reminder of Kyvoro when Genik had been so obviously devastated by his loss. Harth found himself alternatively wanting to lash out in anger and weep with sorrow as he collected his bows.

“Are you on a hunt tonight?” Harth asked in an attempt to have a regular conversation.

“I’m to escort two novices on patrol; no interventions unless someone is under attack.”

“Hardly seems a the way to learn how to handle a fight.”

Genik’s expression registered astonishment.

“This is how Teba wants it done. As his most ardent supporter, I’m a little surprised to hear you criticizing his method.”

“I misspoke,” said Harth, not looking up, “Teba is an excellent First Warrior.”

Harth didn’t want Genik to know how he felt left behind as Teba not only grew into First Warrior, but also fatherhood. He could handle Teba taking command; Harth had sworn to follow Teba long before his promotion. 

Harth was far more caught up in his own failure to to produce a viable egg with Antilli. Genik must know—the whole village was probably talking about it—that last night he and his wife had candled the egg which they had incubated for nearly a week only to find nothing. It seemed profoundly unfair to Harth that Kass and Amali had an entire clutch of eggs while he and Antilli suffered disappointment after disappointment.

“I hesitate to ask what’s bothering you out of concern for my safety,” said Genik in his usual grating tone.

“Do you really pretend not to know?” snapped Harth.

“I’m not pretending. It may be difficult for you to comprehend, but the goings on of the village do not centre around you.”

“I’m not the one who’s so self-important that I thought I could orchestrate a coup!”

“No,” said Genik sourly, “you just went along with it.”

“Time was when I would fight you for what you’re saying to me, but I just haven’t the energy to spare on you.”

“Nor I, you. My charges have arrived,” said Genik.

He holstered his blade and pushed past Harth to the landing. Before he took off, Genik looked back over his shoulder, his voice full of bitterness.

“Allow me to share another piece of advice from the Hylians: get your head out of your ass.”

Harth stood bristling by the fire as Genik took flight and intercepted Huck and Verla over Dronoc’s Pass. With no fight remaining in him, Harth extinguished the fire, shouldered the bows and set out into the night. He set down on Revali’s Landing and took the boardwalk up to Teba and Saki’s roost.

Saki was asleep in her hammock with Tulin, but Teba sat on floor with a lantern to light the book he read. When Teba saw him, he made a gesture for quiet, set down his reading and joined Harth on the boardwalk.

“It grows late,” warned Teba as they headed down the walk.

“Why haven’t I been assigned to lead any expeditions with the novices?” Harth asked directly.

Teba sighed with a low rumble.

“What is it that Genik has that I do not?”

“I had hoped to spare you from your duties this week...” Teba trailed off.

“Because of...”

Of course Teba had wanted to give him time with the egg; he had not counted on it being empty either.

“I’m sorry, Harth.”

Harth wrapped his wings around himself and stared down at the light in Kass and Amali’s roost a level below them.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Harth flatly.

He realized Teba hated hearing this; he never seemed to know how to respond. Harth knew that Teba and Saki’s first egg had not hatched either. At the time, Harth—still young and unmarried—had not known what to say when Teba told him that upon its second candling their beautiful creation had been marred by that dreaded red ring. Perhaps he still did not know how he would react to hearing that.

“I don’t wish to take the responsibility from Genik now that I’ve given it to him,” said Teba, “but I will have you run archery drills at the Flight Range.”

“Just don’t...” Harth rubbed his beak against his wing, “if there’s another egg...don’t presume...just keep me on duty unless...”

Teba nodded and rested a hand on his shoulder. Harth wanted so badly to tell him how this was wearing him down, but Teba appeared burdened by a thousand other cares.

“Go be with your wife,” said Teba.

Harth sighed and watched as his friend turned back up the boardwalk. He felt the distance between them widening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps this is more “slice of lifey” than I usually go. I wanted to take the opportunity to delve into Amali and Genik’s background and the ongoing character tensions. The reference to a “red ring” when Teba and Saki candled their egg is called a “blood ring” and its how you can tell an egg that was developing has died. 
> 
> As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been utilizing the other Rito’s perspectives to offset Kass’s impressions of things and people. This remains Kass’s story, but I love the other Rito so much it’s hard to stay out of the POVs...and I live and die by third person limited.


	25. All The Hours Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass and Amali grow impatient.

Kass could barely appreciate the sweet spring air that blew through their roost. He lay on his back on the floorboards with the eggs carefully wrapped and resting on the bare patch on his belly. Even as the squares of sunlight travelled across the floor, he let his eyelids droop. Above him, Amali was sound asleep in her hammock. He couldn’t recall the last time that either of them had left the roost.

Through the haze of discomfort and weariness, Kass became aware of the clicking of talons coming down the boardwalk.

“Seeing this actually makes me glad not to have any...”

“It’s got to be soon, though.”

Kass opened his bleary eyes to see Harth and Genik standing over him.

“What?” Kass asked, unable to summon the energy to say more.

“Your eggs, they’re bound to hatch soon,” said Genik.

“Why are you here?”

Most days, Genik freely came and went from Kass and Amali’s roost, but Kass suspected that Harth was here out of some perverse curiosity.

“We were called down to the stable,” said Harth, “the warriors of the village met and have decided that we’re going to burn down some of the structures that the monsters have built in its vicinity. We’re meeting with the Hylians to combine our efforts.”

“Then where will they go when they resurrect?” Kass asked.

“You see, this is why we need to invite Kass to these things,” Genik told Harth.

“I could not have attended anyway.”

“How did you end up with five eggs for Hylia’s sake?” Harth asked.

“Well Harth, if you’re unsure about the process I can recommend a book that’s a real eye-opener.”

“I think I like you better when you’re mean,” said Harth, though his expression was strained.

“Get out of my home and let me die in peace.”

Harth—perhaps having seen what he wanted—left. Genik remained and sat down with Kass. Somehow enduring the strain of holding the eggs seemed more bearable when Genik joined him.

“Do you really think it’s a bad idea?” Genik pressed.

“Burning the colonies down? I dunno. Teba wouldn’t listen to me even if I objected...I’m just some wandering minstrel...”

“You’re certainly not doing much wandering theses days. Why are you lying on the ground anyway?” 

“I couldn’t sit up any more...does it get any better when they hatch?”

Genik began to laugh.

“Alright, stop,” Kass said, rubbing his brow, “I feel like I’m failing them already.”

“Kass, you’re going to be such a good father. You already are. There’s no way I could have managed five eggs, but you’re nearly there.”

“I’m...rather frightened about the whole thing now that we’re so close.”

“That’s normal,” said Genik resting a hand on Kass’s shoulder.

Kass reached up and gripped Genik’s hand. His whole body ached with exhaustion and he just wanted a lifeline to cling to.

“It’ll be alright,” Genik told him, “Misa and I are here for you...all seven of you.”

“I must be delirious; I want to weep just hearing that.”

Genik squeezed his hand and Kass held on tight, willing himself to remain calm.

“I’m sorry, Kass...Teba is expecting me. Harth’s been hanging around trying to get me into trouble or something, so I’d better not give him an opportunity.”

“It seems the warriors have been out a lot lately,” said Kass, still not letting go of Genik.

“I know you’ve spent the spring lazing about in here, but don’t tell me you haven’t heard about the growth in the monster population. It’s like they melted out of the snow!”

Kass shrugged.

“Alright...I really must go now,” Genik sighed, extricating himself from Kass’s grasp, “say hello to my sister when she awakes from her hibernation.”

Kass watched Genik leave and desperately wished he could stay. Kass was growing agitated left to his own mind with so little to do. He lay on the floor well into the afternoon until he felt something scraping against his featherless belly. His heart racing, he called up to his sleeping wife.

“What is it?” she groaned into her pillow.

“I think one is hatching!”

Amali leapt from her hammock and helped Kass unwrap the eggs. One had a hole forming in the shell as the chick inside struggled to get free. Amali scooped it up gently and placed it in a blanket she had formed into a round nest on the floor. Amali took over incubating the other four eggs as Kass watched over the one which was hatching.

“They must hatch on their own,” Amali reminded him when he looked as though he might intervene, “or they will not be strong enough to survive.”

“I can’t stand this. Did all of our forebears look upon their eggs like this and fret?”

“I imagine so...my father once said it was all my parents could to do to keep their hands off of Genik’s egg.”

Kass could imagine his own parents—in that abstract way he remembered the feeling of them, but never their faces—fretting over him in their cabana in Lurelin Village. He covered his eyes with his wing while he tried to keep himself from weeping at the thought of them. Would they be happy for him now?

“It’ll be alright,” Amali assured him, “go get us some food? It may take a while.”

Kass took a deep breath; this was an emotional time after all. He could use a task to take his mind from the anxious anticipation that had hold of him. He went to the cooking pot and fried some fish and greens in butter. Somehow, even cooking was making him an emotional wreck.

“Oh...Kass, are you alright?”

Kass jumped and wiped his eyes, embarrassed that Antilli had caught him tearing up over his dinner.

“One of our eggs is hatching...I’m a little on edge, that’s all...I suppose Amali wanted to keep me busy here.”

“I’m happy for you,” she said, though she looked very sad.

“Are _you_ alright?” he asked.

“It’s only...” she hesitated.

“Don’t feel like you have to tell me,” he backtracked.

“We...we’ve just had another empty egg...that’s six,” she said quietly.

“I’m so sorry,” he said reaching out to comfort her.

“It’s difficult...seeing everyone getting it right...and...maybe there’s something wrong with us...with me.”

“It’s not just you and Harth,” said Kass quietly, feeling quite ashamed for what he had said to Harth earlier, “without betraying anyone’s confidences...there’s a lot of this going around.”

“Kaneli...he’s been quite invasive...I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be telling you this...not while you’re waiting on your own eggs.”

“You can’t be expected to hold your feelings inside forever,” said Kass, “you’ve done nothing for which you need to apologize.”

“You’re far too understanding, Kass,” she said, briefly wrapping her wings around him.

When Kass returned to the roost with food, he was surprised to see that Amali had placed a second hatching egg in with the first.

“I was not expecting two so soon,” he said.

“Nor I,” she agreed, taking her plate.

Kass and Amali sat together through those anxious hours into the night. They shared the burden of incubating their remaining eggs as they watched the two in the blanket pecking and kicking and cracking away.

The first egg hatched in the darkest hour of the night, propelling out onto the blanket with a final push. Shell cast aside, Kass lifted the damp and shivering hatchling and held her to his breast.

“You’re crying,” smiled Amali, her hand resting fondly on the back of his neck.

“I’ve been crying since this afternoon, so that’s hardly a surprise,” Kass said, touching his beak ever so gently to the tiny pink head.

“How glad I am to have such a gentle-hearted husband,” Amali told him, brushing the side of his face with her beak.

“All I can think is how many loves had to come together back through both of our families to bring us to this moment,” Kass said, warming his tiny daughter in his wings.

“My sweet poet.”

The second egg followed in the first rays of morning light and Kass and Amali cuddled her close as well. Amali fed them a slurry of cooked salmon and cold vegetable broth as Kass held the other three eggs. He marvelled dizzily at the chicks before him, wondering from whom they had inherited their red and yellow fuzz; his own mother had been quite colourful, he recalled.

As the sun rose, Kass began to get a sense that something was going on in the village beyond the confines of their happy home. He had seen Teba fly past and he thought he had heard a screech from a lower level. The ominous feeling that something terrible had happened was only bolstered by the arrival of Cyd.

“Rather early for a visit,” Kass said carefully, wondering if Cyd was about to finally announce his departure.

Cyd’s lank grey hair was tied back, leaving the tired lines around his eyes fully exposed. Cyd looked at the hatchlings and his expression remained grim, as though he was struggling with something heavy in his heart.

“Kass. Amali,” he said.

“Cyd, whatever it is, just say it,” Amali told him.

“Genik...”

Cyd’s mouth wavered for a moment, but he tightened his lips into a line and cleared his throat.

“Is he alright?” Amali demanded over the peeping of the hatchlings, “Cyd?!”

Cyd just shook his head, his jaw tight.

“At the goddess statue, with his wife...he didn’t...”

Amali handed Kass the children and fled the roost; Kass desperately wanted to follow but was stuck with the eggs and hatchlings in his lap. Kass’s hands shook around Notts and Kotts as he looked up at Cyd.

“I couldn’t get him back here in time,” Cyd said numbly.

Kass held his daughters in one wing and reached out to his friend with his other. Cyd sank down beside Kass, his face filled with pain. He reached out to stroke chicks’ little heads, looking as though he needed some sort of hope.

“Did they hatch this morning?” Cyd asked.

Kass nodded. Up close Kass could see that Cyd’s eyes were red from fatigue and grief. Kass blinked hard, trying to sort though the shock that dulled his senses.

“What happened?” Kass asked, his voice strange and echoing in his disbelief. 

“Caught an arrow...” said Cyd, tapping at his own chest.

Kass couldn’t speak though the pain that was taking him over. All he could think of was Genik lying still on the boardwalk below and how he could not reach him. Kass gripped Cyd’s arm with all of his strength as he desperately gulped in air.

“Slow breath...c’mon Kass, your kids need you now,” Cyd said, stroking the wing that wrapped around his arm.

“I want to...see him...” Kass whiffled.

“I know. You will.”

Kass desperately needed someone else to come hold his eggs...his shook his head, laughing painfully as he realized the first person he thought to call was Genik.

“Kass...”

“Just talk to me, Cyd.”

Cyd sighed heavily.

“I should tell you...I’m not doing this anymore,” said Cyd, “I respect the Rito, I do. I’ve grown to enjoy their company and rely on their protection...and you are the best friend I have ever known...but this is too much. I quit. I hate the climate, I hate the Stable Association, and I hate bringing back broken bodies...”

“I can’t stand for you to leave right now...”

“Staying here is killing me,” said Cyd, his voice catching as he wiped his eyes, “I need to spend time with my wife and daughter before I bite it defending a stable that shouldn’t even be here.”

Kass nodded and swallowed hard. He knew that Cyd deserved happiness after the life he had led as much as anyone did. It was just that right now Kass’s insides felt as though they were tearing apart and he so desperately wanted to see Genik.

“I’m leaving by tomorrow,” said Cyd.

“When did you decide this?”

“When Genik...begged me to bring him to his family...oh Goddess, I was too late,” Cyd said, fully breaking down.

Kass sat in silence with three eggs in his lap and his newly hatched daughters in his wing. His physical and emotional exhaustion left him feeling oddly numb, even as Cyd sobbed painfully beside him. Every few seconds Kass’s mind seemed to circle back to Genik and what his last moments must have been like. It was a sliver of pain that cut through the haze.

“I-I need a blanket,” Kass said suddenly.

“You alright?” Cyd asked.

Kass shook his head. He felt what was becoming a familiar feeling of an egg hatching against his skin. Kass just pointed at the blanket forgotten on the floor of their disastrous roost, and Cyd passed it to him. Kass made it into a protective little nest and placed the egg in its centre. Cyd looked at him strangely.

“It’s hatching.”

The pain of realizations finally caught up with him as he stared at the egg and Kass could barely breathe as he released a dry sob for Genik. Cyd just put an arm around his shoulders as Notts and Kotts peeped away in his arms.

oOo

They named the third hatchling ‘Genli’ for him. Kass and Amali had taken shifts between sitting vigil over Genik’s body with Misa in her roost and watching over their young. By the time of the funeral all of their eggs had hatched and Amali and Kass slung the chicks to their bodies so that they could attend. Kass and Amali had hardly exchanged a word between them through the last harrowing day.

They and followed in procession behind Misa, who carried the enshrouded figure of her husband to the funerary caves. Partway through the trek, the procession stopped as Fyson threw himself to the ground to sob inconsolably. Teba quickly joined Misa and took Genik in is wings so that Misa could comfort her son. Fyson’s tears fell in huge drops across Misa’s feathers as he wept, and Teba bore the body the remainder of the way.

The procession continued and Kass glance beside him to see Amali’s stony face. She had not shed a single tear as far as Kass knew, and neither of them had slept since they had heard of Genik’s passing the morning before. It felt like a lifetime ago that Kass had clasped Genik’s hand in his as he lay on the floor of his roost. Something inside of Kass wanted to scream and throw himself down as Fyson had, but he had become a shell of functional detachment in his exhaustion.

They entered the caves and Teba laid Genik to rest upon one of the ledges hewn into the rocks. Kass could not unfix his eyes from the way the shroud draped over Genik’s beak as Kaneli stood to address the group.

“We gather here to say farewell to our brother Genik...”

Kass found he could not listen to Kaneli; his body ached with fatigue and grief and Cree, Kheel and Notts were peeping away in their sling. He reached a hand out to touch Amali’s and she withdrew. Kass had been watching as she tamped down her pain and hid it deep inside, letting that gulf of pain between them calcify.

“...four feathers, from four dear friends to fly you on your way,” Kaneli was saying.

Teba placed a feather across the shroud and Kass wondered if Genik even had four dear friends...not since Kyvoro at any rate. It seemed to Kass that Teba had been included out of politeness for his position as First Warrior. 

Kass plucked a flight feather from his own wing and placed it across Teba’s and rested his hand on the cold chest wrapped beneath the shroud. Surely, this could not be Genik at all, his mind told him in contravention of the evidence, because Genik had never felt so unreal to Kass. He stepped back so that Amali and Misa could place their feathers and say their goodbyes.

As the Rito shuffled out around them, Misa wept wretchedly with her forehead against her husband’s. Fyson still clung to his mother, though his cries had turned to silent tears. Beside Kass, Amali’s eyes were dry, but her fists were clenched and shaking. Kass felt someone grasp his wing and he was surprised to see that it was Teba.

“Kass, you have to stop the bleeding,” he said.

“What bleeding?”

Teba pointed and Kass looked down at his wing to see the red droplets which had trailed through his flight feathers. Kass held the wound as Cecili lifted Fyson in her arms and Nekk wrapped a supportive wing around Misa’s shoulders.

“It’s time to go,” Teba told him.

“Help Amali,” Kass requested softly.

Teba lifted his head and gestured to where Saki already had a kind wing on Amali’s back. Kass glanced back at at Genik and that horrid feeling inside him screeched and clawed and threw itself against the walls of Kass’s weariness.

“Just walk,” Teba encouraged him in the gentlest tone he had ever heard from the warrior.

The walk back was a haze. Later, Kass only recalled Teba reminding him more than once to keep pressure on his wound. When he returned home, the bleeding still had not stopped and Saki ran to fetch her medicine bag.

Kass didn’t even feel the styptic powder which she applied to the wound. 

“Kass?” Saki said, looking carefully into his eyes as she held his face.

“What?”

“Did that not hurt?” she asked, her hands prodding at spots on his wing.

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“You should rest if you can,” she said.

Saki left and took her worried expression with her. Kass watched as Amali fed the children silence. They had hardly been able to speak to each other at all as they dealt with the needs of their bald, pink offspring. The hatchlings screeched and cried and needed to cuddle close for warmth every single moment it seemed.

Kass strung his hammock near the floor so that he could rest with the chicks. He wanted to feel the comfort of them burrowing against his feathers, but he found that he had been left hollow now that Genik had been laid to rest.

“You should sleep,” he told Amali as she spread a blanket over him and the hatchlings.

“I fear I shall never sleep again,” she said.

Though Kass wished to comfort her, exhaustion of the last few days caught up with him and he slept through the afternoon, his daughters snuggled close.

oOo

When Kass awoke he remembered his daughters were curled upon him...and then her remembered Genik. The sky was not quite dark, and he realized he had only slept a few hours.

“Amali,” he whispered.

His wife arose from where she sat and came to his side.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, reaching out to hold her hand.

She bore the touch without reaction and shook her head.

“You hold them for a while,” Kass said, “I’ll cook.”

When Kass returned with dinner, Amali could barely eat more than a few bites. Kass found he couldn’t do much better.

“Can I do anything to help you?” Kass asked.

She shook her head. The chicks were screeching again and she glanced down at them in her arms. Perhaps she was thinking the same thing that Kass was—that Genik would have been here, right this moment. What should have been such a joyous day for their family had been one of the darkest that Kass could remember.

“I think I’ll lie down with the chicks” said Amali.

Kass nodded and helped her settle into his lowered hammock with the hatchlings. He drew his beak over her head and across her face.

“I’m fine,” she said distantly.

Kass doubted that, but he did not want to push her.

“I need to stretch my legs,” said Kass.

“I’ll be alright if you go out...really.”

Kass nodded hesitantly and wandered down the boardwalk to the foot of the village. He forced himself to behave normally though it felt like he should still be weeping every second. He stopped in front of the statue of the goddess which was strewn with tiny spring flowers. 

The peaceful sight so offended Kass that he continued on, thinking that he might visit the stable. Recalling Cyd’s hurried departure he found he could not bear to be there either and hesitated near the guard’s post.

“Who goes...oh, Kass,” said Mazli, overzealous in his youth.

“Peace, Mazli,” said Kass as the guard lowered his feathered spear.

“I apologize. I’m a little jumpy,” Mazli admitted.

“It’s been a difficult day,” Kass conceded, making for the bridge.

“Where are you headed?”

“Dunno. A walk.”

“Is that like, going for a flight?”

“I suppose.”

“Be careful.”

Kass was irritated by the instruction, but nodded back at Mazli as he crossed the bridge. He needed any distraction to keep himself from falling into a heap of misery, and at least walking across the bridge forced him to move. He was surprised to find Antilli on the third stack sitting with her back against a rock.

“You alright?” he asked.

“Yes...Harth and Teba are a little much right now...they’re making plans. I left them to it.”

Kass could believe that. Neither of the two knew what to do with grief. It seemed to be a problem that was endemic among Rito warriors.

“How are you doing?” she asked him.

“I don’t know. I am so grateful that my daughters hatched safely...but...”

Kass covered his face. He could not find the words for the hole of Genik’s absence.

“He didn’t even get to meet them...” Kass realized as the tears built in his eyes, “he promised to be there for us and now...I don’t even know what I feel. I think my heart is broken.”

Antilli stood and reached out to him, gently stroking his wings.

“It’s so strange to hear such honesty...the men of our tribe act as though they are unaffected by love or grief.”

“I grew up with a poet who lived through the Calamity...he didn’t say it aloud, but his poetry was full of grief and sadness. And he always wanted to hear what I thought and felt...” 

Kass held his wings to his beak and sucked in his breath at the thought of Olin. He badly missed the comfort of Olin’s arms around him; when he was young he had taken for granted how Olin had helped him through so much turmoil. The turbulence of the last few days and exhaustion of the past few moons had left Kass so very raw. Wishing for Genik or Cyd or Olin to be by his side broke down what little control he had left. Antilli wrapped him in her wings as he tried to stop weeping.

“Tell me of your poet,” said Antilli.

“He raised me and gave me everything. I would not have a life if not for him...I wish he could see my girls...Goddess, he would know what to tell me right now...I’m drowning in this grief. I’m so sorry.”

He drew back from Antilli, brushing his wing across his face.

“You needn’t apologize...it seems we face loss at every turn these days.”

“I can’t even speak of it to Amali...there’s this awful pain between us...she’s lost the only family she had left!”

“You’re her family,” Antilli assured him holding his face.

“How do you manage a world of such sadness?”

“I don’t know. You just—”

A voice from the bridge cut through whatever Antilli was about to say.

“Mazli, I—oh...”

They looked up to see Gesane at the edge of the bridge frozen by the sight of them. Antilli stepped back from Kass who wiped his eyes.

“Right, nothing here,” said Gesane.

“Gesane,” protested Antilli, “you can’t think that was...”

“I don’t know what it was. I don’t care what it was,” stammered Gesane, returning to his patrol.

Antilli swore as she chased Gesane down the bridge. Kass found he could not be bothered to deal with this and turned back toward the village. He felt no better for his fresh air, and somewhat worse for having shared his turmoil with Antilli. 

He returned to the roost to find Amali laying awake, the hatchlings clinging to her feathers under the blanket. He ran his beak over her forehead and touched it to hers. Her eyes looked faraway.

“I love you,” he told her.

“I love you, too,” she said distantly.

Kass lay in the hammock in the rafters of the roost. He was shamefully grateful that Amali was not sleeping beside him, so she wouldn’t notice him lying awake and silently weeping while she stared stonily through the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the emotional whiplash! I’m even upset with myself over how much heartbreak is in here, but believe it or not it’s actually less tragic than I had originally planned. Truthfully, I killed off Genik before he even had a name (might be a case of blink and you’ll miss it, but he comes up three or four times in Turns Our Hearts to Ice and Stone). Now I feel quite bad about it because he grew from being sort of flaky to being pretty dependable...it’s okay, you can yell at me, I probably deserve it.


	26. Hell is Other Rito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harth flies off the handle over a rumour; Kass tries to mitigate the damage; Amali is caught up in the aftermath.

As the spring turned to summer, the warriors—their ranks depleted from their recent losses—began to adjust to the holes that Genik and Kyvoro had left. Harth took on most of Genik’s training schedule with the novices, and soon he had become accustomed to the demanding position.

It was a warm afternoon when Harth arrived at the Flight Range. Even in the microclimate in Hebra’s foothills—usually unaffected by the changing of the seasons—the snow grew wet and heavy during the day as it melted, only to refreeze into a hardened sheet at night.

Harth arrived a little early for practice, his leather armour chafing against the thinning feathers on his belly. As he set down, he could see Kass and Teba engaged in a heated discussion on the landing. Curious, Harth entered the structure for some decidedly unsubtle eavesdropping.

“I’m not looking for pity,” Kass was saying, “but my regular participation in this is no longer feasible.”

“Surely Amali can handle it,” Teba grumbled.

“There are five of them, and I have never been a warrior. I’m sorry, Teba, I can’t chance that I might be lost on one of these excursions.”

“We need you to fill the ranks!” Teba snapped.

“You’re not only missing warriors, Teba! We are missing family!”

“I will be speaking to the elder about this,” Teba told Kass, following him to the edge of the landing.

“I hope you have a productive discussion,” Kass told him before he leapt into the updraft.

“What was that about?” Harth asked.

“Kass is refusing to train or hunt,” grumbled Teba, collecting his bow and kicking open a chest of arrows.

“Kass only fights on the ground. He’s not much help anyway,” Harth dismissed him.

“If he leaves, who else might follow his example? We cannot afford any more losses right now.”

“Well, not me. I like the excuse to get out.”

Teba tapped the front of Harth’s leather armour with his bow tip, and Harth could not suppress his smile.

“I see you’re getting a little bald patch there,” Teba said, seeing Harth’s expression.

“We candled the egg last night,” said Harth, barely able to contain his happiness, “it’s a keeper.”

Just saying it aloud filled Harth with delight. Teba rested his hand on Harth’s shoulder, utter relief in his eyes.

“I’m very glad for you. Now, let’s turn these fledglings into warriors.”

They ran drills with the Rito at the Flight Range for most of the afternoon. Harth knew Teba wanted to be prepared against the hordes of monsters who had been particularly active that spring. Since Tulin had hatched, Teba had become even more focused on securing their borders, though it never reached Kyvoro’s paranoid level of training.

As they broke for the evening, Mazli pulled Harth aside.

“What’s with you?” Harth asked, his eyes narrowed at the young guard.

“You didn’t hear this from me...” Mazli hesitated.

“What?”

“I’m only telling you because,” Mazli glanced at Harth’s brood patch, “I think it would be wrong not to.”

“Well?”

“Ask Gesane what happened the night of Genik’s funeral...”

“Why?” 

“You just should,” said Mazli, taking off quickly.

Harth looked back at the dispersing Rito to see that Gesane had already left. Harth circled back to Teba, who was separating damaged arrows from a pile that had been left at the close of the practice.

“Shouldn’t you return to your egg?”

“Antilli will be fine for a little while longer,” said Harth, feeling unsettled by Mazli’s vague insinuation.

“You take your wife for granted.”

Harth hesitated.

“Something on your mind?” Teba asked, seeing his expression.

“I heard...well I’m not sure what I heard or even if I actually heard anything at all...”

“Get to the point, Harth.”

“Do you remember...anything happening the night of Genik’s funeral?”

Teba just looked at Harth, perhaps surprised by the question.

“What were we doing that night?” Harth pressed.

“We were at your roost...planning to burn out monster colonies along Dronoc’s Pass.”

“Antilli left the roost, right? She said she was going to check the salmon pond...or...” Harth felt a chill at a sudden realization.

“I don’t remember.”

Teba looked up and frowned.

“What’s that look on your face?” he asked cautiously.

“Gesane,” Harth hissed.

It all made sense now; Harth and Antilli had never been able to conceive in the long years they had been trying. He had always suspected his fever had left him infertile...but suddenly they had a viable egg...of course it could not be his...

Harth was shaking with anger and heartbreak at the realization.

“I’m going to kill him.”

Harth leapt into the updraft before Teba could even respond. His upset turned to hot rage as flew above Lake Totori and circled above the first stack where he knew Gesane would be standing guard. Harth’s beak was clenched as he dropped into a dive and speared the unsuspecting guard to the ground. Harth shrieked as he knelt on top of Gesane, striking at his face and wings.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Gesane screeched, shielding his face from Harth’s attack.

“You know what you did, you bastard!” Harth shouted.

“I don’t! Get off me!”

“You didn’t make it with my wife?”

“What?!”

Just then, Harth felt a crushing pain in his side and he rolled onto the grass. It took him a moment to realize that Teba had knocked him flat on his back. Beside him, Gesane lay on the ground holding his ribs.

“Teba!” snarled Harth, pushing himself up from the ground.

“Stay down!” Teba shouted, shoving him back down, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Gesane...” Harth feared he may weep, “the egg is Gesane’s.”

Teba looked to Gesane.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about!”

“You fucking—”

“Harth, enough!” Teba snapped.

“I don’t know what this is about,” winced Gesane, trying to sit up, “there isn’t an egg in this world that is mine...of that I am certain.”

“Then why did Mazli send me to talk to you?”

“I don’t know! Perhaps if you would talk instead of dive bombing me you would have your answers,” said Gesane who had given up on dignity and resigned himself to laying flat in the grass.

“Did you see Antilli the night of Genik’s funeral?” Harth huffed.

“I’m very injured, Harth” Gesane said through his gritted beak, “I don’t feel inclined to talk.”

“Just answer the question,” Teba said calmly.

“Yes,” sighed Gesane.

“Did you...with my wife?” Harth spat.

“No!”

“Then why would Mazli—”

“Goddess, Harth, I told you I don’t know!”

“Was she with someone else?” Teba asked.

“I don’t—”

“Gesane...” warned Teba.

Gesane hissed as though Teba was drawing the answer from his flesh.

“I’m not saying anything happened, just that...Kass was also out here.”

“Kass?” asked Harth, confused.

“Who have you told?” asked Teba.

“No one! As far as I know there is nothing to tell except that they spoke!”

“I’m sorry, Gesane,” said Harth, getting to his feet and offering Gesane a wing.

“Get away from me!” snapped Gesane.

He sat up with a grimace and swatted away Harth’s extended wing. Teba stepped forward but Gesane also fixed him with a glare.

“Both of you. Our trust is broken.”

Gesane leaned on his feathered spear as he got to his feet. He turned and limped back toward the village, his wing wrapped around his chest.

“I hope you’re pleased with yourself,” Teba said, “now we have to send Mazli down here and leave the village entrance unguarded...I should put you there as a punishment!”

Harth splashed some of the water from the nearby pools over his face and wings. He felt deflated. Of course it had been Kass; he was clearly quite virile if his roost full of chicks was any indication. It was hardly any wonder Antilli had flocked to him. Harth covered his face under the guise of scrubbing the water from it so Teba would not see how much this was getting to him.

“Harth, you can’t really believe this,” said Teba, seeing his defeat.

“Why not?” Harth snapped, his chest constricting with emotion, “it’s never worked before...it could very well have been Kass...”

Teba sighed in irritation as Harth hid his face, trying to collect himself.

“I’ve know you and your wife your entire lives. Antilli loves you; she would never betray that.”

“Unless she felt so much pressure for us to have an egg that she...thought it was a sure thing...I could hardly blame her for that...”

“Well, Harth. Why don’t you go ask her?”

“If she thought she was sparing us the shame of...She would never say...”

“Then what?”

Harth shook the water droplets from his wings and strode toward the village as the last orange rays disappeared in the west.

oOo

Kass lay in the lowered hammock in his roost. Five fuzzy chicks burrowed into his feathers and clung to him while the slept. This was the best part of the day, he thought to himself as Kheel snuggled into the scarred patch hidden on his breast. For a moment, he thought he could feel something other than the pain of loss that still lingered in their family. Eyes closed, Kass breathed the sweet air that swept through the roost.

“Harth, what are you doing here?”

Kass opened his eyes at the sound of Amali’s voice to find Harth standing in his roost. Harth stared at him where he lay with a look of such contempt that Kass carefully sat up, setting each of the drowsy chicks into the hammock. 

“If this is about combat training—” he said, standing between Harth and the hammock.

“It’s not about fucking combat training!”

“Don’t you take that tone in here!” warned Amali.

“Come outside with me,” Harth said through his clenched beak, staring at Kass with a visible rage.

“Whatever for?”

“Because you don’t want me to say this in front of your wife and chicks.”

Kass cast Harth a skeptical glance. There were few things in his life that Kass kept hidden from Amali. There was one...but how could Harth know about Lamak? No, that couldn’t be it; Harth was far too furious. This seemed personal. Kass glanced back at Amali who looked as confused as he felt.

“Alright,” Kass acquiesced. 

Kass followed Harth down the silent boardwalk to the Goddess statue.

“Why are we here?” Kass asked, his irritation growing.

“You think you can just take everything from me!?” Harth exploded.

“I haven’t taken anything from you. Ever.”

“Oh so you didn’t charm Amali away from me?”

“You’ve been married to Antilli for years! You have to get over this, Harth—at least for her sake!”

Harth screeched incoherently and wrapped his wings around the back of his head tensely while he tried to rein in his anger. Kass stepped back cautiously.

“I think there’s something of yours in my roost,” Harth ground out.

Kass just stared at him.

“The egg.”

“What?”

“You...and Antilli...” Harth couldn’t even finish.

Kass watched Harth’s shaking hands as he tried to work out what the younger Rito was suggesting.

“Are you trying to accuse me of adultery?” Kass asked, perplexed.

“You were seen! The night of Genik’s funeral!”

Harth was not exactly known for being rational at the best of times, but Kass could see that this had cut to every one of Harth’s greatest insecurities.

“No,” said Kass calmly, despite his irritation, “nothing happened.”

“You were seen with her!”

“We spoke. I was...distraught from the funeral. She tried to comfort me—not like that,” he clarified when Harth looked murderous.

“Why would she do that?” 

“I imagine because she can’t stand to see others in pain.”

Kass watched as Harth paced a little, smoothing back his crest. Kass did not know Antilli terribly well, but he knew that he could not stand to see others in pain. He sighed, regretting it even before it came out of his beak.

“Harth...do you want to talk?”

“What, to you?”

“Nothing happened between us, Harth. You have my word if that means anything to you.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Why are you so convinced that there was an affair?”

“The egg!”

“Yes! You have one, and you’re going to be a father! This is what you’ve wanted for so long!”

“It can’t be mine,” said Harth, his voice wavering.

Kass’s anger at this whole exercise morphed into something more empathetic at the vulnerability in Harth’s tone.

“Can it really not or are you just in disbelief?” Kass asked him.

“How did you end up with five chicks? How is that even possible?”

“Pure dumb luck, I can assure you...but this isn't about me.”

Harth sat down on the stairs his wings wrapped stiffly around himself. Kass reluctantly joined him, worrying he may be the only thing between Harth and a complete breakdown. This was not the first time that he thought emotional regulation was a particularly stunted skill among Rito warriors. In Genik’s painful absence, Kass felt that he had no choice but to try and set Harth straight.

“Are you worried about being a father?” Kass asked Harth.

“Of course! But I want to be...but if it’s not my egg...”

“It’s yours.”

“Even if it is—” 

“Harth, it _is_.”

“—the rumour is out there.”

Kass sighed; Harth was right. The last thing he wanted was to be at the centre of such a scandal. Given her brittle emotional state, Kass thought Amali might not be fit to handle this at all.

“We’ll ignore it,” said Kass, “don’t let this ruin your happiness.”

Harth covered his face and Kass squeezed his shoulder.

“Go back to your wife, Harth. Hold your egg and be happy that you have finally been fortunate in this.”

Harth nodded and let Kass give him a hand up. As he followed Harth up the boardwalk, he felt the strange sense that the pain he had been carrying over Genik was a tiny bit less.

oOo

Amali could not remember the last time she felt whole. Though Kass offered her every fibre of his strength, whenever Amali tried to mention Genik his expression grew strained as though he could not bear to even hear his name. Amali had stopped mentioning her brother weeks ago, letting his absence fester quietly in her heart through every moment of her day.

Kass had more than fairly shouldered his parental responsibilities as well, and Amali could see the moment of pure delight on his face each time he held his fluffy chicks. She wished that she could feel the same, but no joy seemed to punch through her grief as she perfunctorily fed, cleaned, and held the hatchlings. Every moment seemed too full of missing her brother for Amali to bond with her own children.

Kass rarely left her alone for very long, but today he had gone down to the stable to see if he had received a letter from Olin. Since Cyd had departed, Kass rarely ventured down that way and always hurried back.

Amali did her best to pass time with the chicks but every moment felt endless. She was briefly rescued from the tedium by a visit from Misa and Fyson. Her brother’s son was beginning to look so like his father Amali could barely stand it.

Fyson—disinterested in the chicks—took to his usual habit of reordering Kass’s books.

“Amali,” Misa greeted her, reaching out to take her wing.

Amali thought Misa was carrying on with life so much better than she was. Misa had gone back to her shop only a few days after Genik’s funeral. Misa had always been quite tough, Amali thought angrily.

“Misa...you look troubled.”

“I don’t know if I should tell you this...” she equivocated.

“Tell me what?”

Misa glanced back at the chicks and came to sit beside Amali.

“Antilli and Harth’s egg...”

“Please say nothing’s happened to it!”

“No, it’s still fine as far as I know...” Misa hesitated, “I’ve heard something very troubling.”

“The Goddess has not blessed me with an abundance of patience lately, I wish you’d get on with it.”

“It’s not Harth’s...he had that bokoblin bite.”

“I don’t know why I need to hear this,” said Amali in irritation.

“Because...it’s Kass’s.”

Amali made a noise of derision. The entire idea that Kass would have had time to meet with Antilli for such an exchange was laughable.

“Amali...they were seen together...they’ve been seen together more than once.”

“Misa, unless you’ve seen them at it with your own eyes.”

“Thank goodness, no.”

“Then I’m afraid I don’t believe it.”

“Fine,” said Misa, rising to leave, “but Harth and Antilli were really trying, everyone knows that. You and Kass had five hatchlings in one go.”

“Go tend your shop,” Amali dismissed her irately, not wanting to point out that it had hardly happened on their first try.

The longer she sat in the roost alone, the more Misa’s allegations began to bother her. Would Kass ever stray from their nest? Even just to help someone being crushed under the weight of a duty she could not make good upon? Kass had not said anything when he returned from his discussion with Harth the other night...was he hiding something from her?

“Nothing at the stable,” Kass announced as he returned from the stable.

Amali nodded distractedly.

“Is something the matter?” he asked her.

“I have to attend to something,” she said, rising.

“Of course,” he said, taking Genli from her.

Amali stalked up the boardwalk to Antilli and Harth’s roost. Antilli sat at the back of the roost, a look of contentment on her face as she held the egg close to her body. Her happiness choked Amali with resentment. Antilli looked up to see Amali’s expression twisted in fury.

“Amali...you seem distressed,” said Antilli.

“You might say that.”

Antilli’s wings closed protectively around the egg.

“What’s wrong?”

“In my life? At this moment, I would say...everything. Well, except one thing which I was always quite grateful for, and that was Kass. Now I’m wondering if I’ve been quite blind to his faults...and maybe those of my friends.”

“You’re not making sense...”

“Whose egg is that?”

“What?”

“Who is the father of that egg?”

“Harth,” said Antilli as though it should be plainly obvious.

“That’s funny...only I heard it was Kass, because Harth can’t make eggs.”

Antilli looked shocked by the accusation.

“I’m frankly sickened that you believe that rumour...” said Antilli in surprise.

“So you acknowledge the rumour? You and Kass have been seen together?”

“Harth!” Antilli shouted, seeing her husband on the boardwalk.

Harth ran into the roost, Teba close on his tail-feathers. Harth knelt beside Antilli.

“Did something happen to the egg?” Harth asked, his voice filled with worry.

“No. Amali is not herself!”

“I’m not myself!?” Amali shouted.

“Don’t do this,” Teba urged, taking her wing.

“Back off, Teba!” Amali shouted, tears springing to her eyes.

Teba raised his wings and took a step back. How could they live their lives like everything was normal when the last shred of stability in Amali’s had just been torn away?

“How can you be happy? How can you all be so happy right now?” Amali sobbed.

“Amali,” said Harth, standing slowly, “we don’t know what’s wrong. Just tell us.”

“You think it’s true too. The egg is Kass’s,” Amali choked, her hands over her beak.

“Goddess, he didn’t tell you about this?” sighed Harth.

“I can’t believe you would ever agree to it! To raise someone else’s child!”

“That’s not what’s happening. It was a misunderstanding,” Harth said, “just a rumour.”

“You were ready to attack him! You can’t believe that!” Amali screeched.

“Kass would never do something like that behind your back,” said Harth as though it pained him to admit it.

“Amali?”

Amali turned to see that Teba had left and Kass now stood in the door frame.

“Yes, of course, lets all just pile into my roost and make this rumour even worse,” Harth muttered.

“Shut up, Harth,” hissed Antilli.

“I’m so sorry that I kept this from you...I thought I could spare you the upset of the rumour,” said Kass.

“Nope...” said Amali, wiping at her eyes, “this is certainly worse. I’ve stormed into my friends’ home and accused Antilli of adultery.”

“Please come home,” said Kass, his voice filled with worry.

Amali covered her face as Kass wrapped a wing around her shoulders.

“Antilli, Harth,” she managed through the sudden tide of emotion, “please accept my sincerest apologies.”

“Of course,” said Antilli.

“No harm done,” mumbled Harth.

She sobbed uncontrollably as Kass walked her down the boardwalk back to their roost. She had not shed a tear since the moment she had heard of her brother’s death. Suddenly, everything from the past few weeks had come to the surface. 

So overwhelming was her agony that she would have missed their roost, had Kass not been there to guide her inside. She did not notice Teba’s concerned look upon seeing her in such a state, nor how Kass quietly dismissed him. She slid to the ground and wrapped her wings around her head as she wept. Kass sat down beside her and smoothed the feathers on her back.

“I’m here,” he told her.

“I’m sorry that I thought...”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the rumour.”

“Why didn’t you?” she asked, resting her head on his leg as he stroked her braids.

“Because I know this has been...so difficult...how could I add this to your grief?”

“You won’t even let me say his name!” Amali grated through her tears.

“What?”

“Genik...Why can’t we even talk about him?!”

“Amali...”

“Kass, I need to talk about this,” she wept.

Kass wrapped her in his wings and ran his beak through her feathers.

“I can’t feel anything but this gaping emptiness,” she said, “it’s taken over every part of my life...I miss him so much I can’t even function! Kass, I’m not even sure that I love our kids! What kind of a terrible mother am I?”

She told him everything that had been weighing upon her and by the end her tears had dried up and she felt surprisingly unburdened.

“I’m so sorry,” said Kass when she had wiped her eyes and pulled herself from the floor, “never feel that you can’t tell me anything. I was not trying to avoid speaking of Genik...I was trying not to overwhelm you with my own sense of loss.”

“We can’t treat each other like this anymore. Be have to be honest.”

“You’re right...and honestly...we need to put the girls to bed.”

Amali half-laughed as she looked at the chicks who had fallen asleep on the floor.

“Bring them to me,” she said, laying back in the hammock.

“Are you sure?” asked Kass, placing Genli in Amali’s arms.

“Yeah...perhaps we just need to start over.”

oOo

Teba had been left unsettled by the theatrics of the afternoon. If asked, he would never admit it, but seeing his friends in such turmoil had forced him to reconsider some of his regrets about the last few days. 

“Gesane,” Teba called, entering the guards small roost.

Gesane lay in his hammock and tried to sit up when he saw Teba.

“Don’t get up,” said Teba, “I wanted to...”

Teba trailed off. The personal was not his greatest strength, but it was one of the things he had admired about Kyvoro when he was young. As a novice, Teba had taken an arrow through the wing and Kyvoro had stopped by his roost that evening to see that he was not suffering. Teba resolved to work on this as he stood awkwardly before Gesane. Of course, with Gesane there was a matter of trust to address.

“My wife tells me you suffered broken ribs...when Harth...”

“Yes,” said Gesane tersely.

“I...want to apologize.”

Gesane looked surprised.

“I’m not ready to forgive Harth,” he said.

“I’m not apologizing for Harth,” clarified Teba, “I’m sorry that my own actions have harmed our trust.”

“You were trying to get to the bottom of the matter,” conceded Gesane.

“Still. We cannot fight together as warriors without trust.”

Gesane considered this and reached out to grasp Teba’s elbow. Teba returned the gesture awkwardly over the edge of the hammock.

“You have my trust, and my forgiveness,” Gesane told him.

Teba nodded, unsure what kind of response something like that merited.

“Did you find out...how this all started?” Gesane asked carefully.

“I believe I can deal with the source...” said Teba darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much of this story came to me because I’m a total idiot when playing the game. I was running around looking for Kass and Amali’s kids (specifically Notts) for a stupid amount of time and I kept bugging Molli before I actually read the names of who I was supposed to be looking for. I had a moment of “well they all look the same...I wonder if some Rito had an affair”...it was actually a rumour that I toyed with putting in Turns Our Hearts, but it didn’t fit very cleanly and I thought it deserved something more than a throwaway line if I was going to use it.


	27. Sins of Our Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass and Teba continue to come into conflict over what being a Rito warrior should entail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s an illness making its round in Rito Village; it’s a plot device, not a source of tragedy.

In the autumn, Rito began to fall ill. Kass recognized the symptoms immediately from his own experience with it as a child.

“We call it the fever,” Amali said.

“Appropriate, if a little unimaginative,” said Kass.

“What did your tribe call it?”

“I can’t recall if we called it anything.”

He did not tell her that he had heard the Hylians of Lurelin refer to it as the bird-fever. The unexpected reminder of Lurelin triggered memories of scrambling over the sandy beach with little Hylian children. He was saddend that could no longer recall their names.

“The chicks are still so young, we must be cautious...you’re certain you’ve had it?” she asked.

“Yes. Have you?”

“I did, as a child. I spent the duration of it sharing my mother’s hammock with Genik,” she said.

She still rarely mentioned her brother and Kass reached out to take her hand. While she grieved, Kass had tried to repress his own feelings in an effort to be there for her and take care of their chicks. He still felt unsure of how he should react to hearing Genik’s name; it seemed to strike him like a bolt of lightning.

“Amali, I need to speak with the elder. I don’t recall this being fatal to Rito, but for Hylians it is deadly.”

“Of course.”

Amali gestured that he should be on his way and Kass took the boardwalk up to see Kaneli. As Kass passed by Teba’s roost, the First Warrior stepped put onto the boardwalk and matched his pace.

“You’re going to see the elder?” asked Teba.

“Yes...you too it seems.”

“I am,” said Teba, a strange glint in his eye.

Kass had been avoiding Teba since the day the rumour had led Amali to confront Antilli and Harth. He was aware that the warriors had been subject to a harrowing, days-long expedition of burning out monster colonies in the region on account of one of them having been the source of the rumour. Kass knew that Teba disliked gossip in his ranks and his harsh stance was meant as a reminder to all of them that he would not stand for it. Kass was also aware that Harth had been excused from the exercise, ostensibly because he had an egg to see to.

“Kass, Teba,” the elder greeted them as they entered his roost.

“After you,” Teba suggested.

“How gracious of you,” Kass said, a little suspiciously.

“Not at all.”

“I know that the Rito have been in isolation for many years,” Kass told the elder, “so you are probably unaware that the fever can spread to Hylians. It can be quite fatal for them.”

“This is troubling. What course of action would you suggest?” asked Kaneli.

“We must close the village to Hylian visitors and alert the stable.”

“Isn’t this what got your tribe slaughtered?” asked Teba.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” snapped Kass, irritated that Teba continued to bring up the tragedy so glibly, “this is a very different situation. If we act now we can ensure nothing like that happens _and_ save Hylian lives.” 

“I agree,” said Kaneli, casting Teba a dark look, “Teba, what did you have to say?”

“In light of so many warriors having never had the fever, I request permission to recall to duty those who already have,” said Teba.

“Of course,” said Kaneli.

Kass suppressed his annoyance at Teba’s sideways glance. Despite the desperate situation, it seemed that Teba felt some sort of vindication at having the elder grant a request that reinstated Kass into the service of the warriors against his will.

“Teba, please inform the guards that we will no longer be allowing Hylians into the village. Kass, would you be so kind as to inform the stable?”

They both set out down the boardwalk.

“Well, have you had it?” asked Kass irately.

“Of course. It’s quite common in childhood.”

“Then why are you so concerned you may be down warriors?”

“There hasn’t been a bout in many years. I doubt most of them were even hatched the last time it made its round.”

Kass parted ways with Teba at Revali’s Landing and drifted down the stable. He let them know that, in no uncertain terms, that Hylians would be temporarily excluded from the village for their own safety. The stable manager consented to post a notice and informed his staff of the situation. They agreed to have no contact with the Rito until the illness had run its course.

Kass, in no rush, decided to walk back. As he arrived at the bridge, Gesane was already stringing a rope between the railings of the first bridge.

“I’m glad no one is wasting time on this,” said Kass, hopping over the rope.

“Teba said he’ll have a sign made,” said Gesane.

“You look quite grim,” Kass said at the dark look the guard cast him.

Gesane—unusually reticent for a Rito, Kass had always thought—just shrugged.

“If you ever wish to talk...” 

Kass left the offer hanging between them and Gesane nodded. By the time Kass made it back to the base of the village, he found Mazli seated in the back of the guard station, his wings wrapped around himself as he shivered.

“Mazli, are you quite well?” asked Kass.

The guard looked up and seemed alarmed to see Kass. He shook his head and Kass knelt beside him and put his hands on either side of Mazli’s face.

“You’re burning up,” said Kass.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Mazli said and gripped Kass’s wing.

“Do you want to lie down?” Kass asked, concerned by Mazli’s anxious behaviour. 

“But, my post,” Mazli protested.

“I’ll see that it’s taken care of. Come with me.”

Kass wrapped a wing around Mazli’s back and pulled him to his feet. The guard groaned in protest; no doubt his muscles pained him.

“One step at a time. That’s the way,” Kass coaxed, “they’ve set up the inn for quarantine so we’re very close.”

When Kass pushed aside the newly hung curtain that enclosed the inn and cut it off from the rest of the village, he came face to face with Saki.

“Another one?” she asked.

Kass nodded as they helped Mazli lay down in a hammock that had been strung low for this purpose. The mattresses which were normally reserved for Hylian visitors had been piled in a corner and covered with a sheet. The bed frames—Kass had noticed—had been temporarily stacked on a small nearby landing. 

“Is it very serious?” Kass asked.

“We have four ill now,” said Saki, tucking a blanket around Mazli, “but we haven’t seen any since before the Collapse...”

Kass surveyed the room to see that it was also populated by Huck, Laissa, and Frita. They mostly slept soundly, though Laissa fretted and whimpered in her sleep.

“If you need help, don’t hesitate to call upon me,” said Kass.

“Misa has offered her help as well, but it seems likely that we will need you before this is over,” Saki said.

“Of course, but please excuse me; I promised to get Mazli’s post covered.”

oOo

As the days wore on, more Rito of the generation who had only just reached adulthood fell ill. Those who had recovered from the earliest bouts were still unable to fully participate in the usual rota, and Teba found he was scraping just to find guards who could stand at the end of the bridge. He himself had spent several days and nights standing guard.

On this particular night, Teba was at the Flight Range taking stock of their supplies. It was one of Saki’s rare nights away from the inn and he had come here to think as much as take inventory, away from the illness that had been going around the village for the previous moon. When he heard an ungraceful landing behind him, he uncharitably assumed it was Kass. He was surprised to find Mimo.

“We’ve had an urgent message from the stable,” he said.

“Go on,” Teba prompted.

“There was an attack only an hour ago...they think there is a roving band of bokoblins in the area. They may hit the village...”

Teba sighed. Since he had taken up the position of First Warrior he had come to recognize that bad fortune seemed to beget further bad fortune. It was bad fortune indeed that the stable had not yet replaced Cyd with a competent guard. When this was over, Teba would be sure to remind them that security of the area had to be a partnership.

“If you’re well...I request that you join Nekk patrolling the bridge to the mainland.”

“Me?”

“For now,” said Teba.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Mimo said reluctantly and took off in the updraft.

Resigning his exhausted body to the fight ahead, Teba slung his bow on his back and made sure his feathered edge was secure on his hip before leaping into the updraft. He had left Harth at the guard’s post at the base of the village in the absence of any of their younger comrades. Harth had agreed reluctantly; he worried that he might miss out on his egg hatching, though Teba assured him it was only for this evening.

Teba circled down the village entrance. Together, he and Harth could make short work of a few bokoblins and that would be the end of it. He was not expecting to find Harth sitting on the stairs in front of the Goddess statue.

“You get tired or something?” Teba asked, annoyed.

“Or something...”

“What’s wrong with you? You can’t see the bridge from here.”

“I believe I’ve been struck down,” Harth said, laying his head against the hand rail.

For Harth to fall ill now was more than a stroke of bad luck; Teba was nearly out of warriors and the village could not go unguarded.

“I thought you had it when you were a kid!” Teba said desperately.

“So did I...I was sure I had...though come to think of it I can’t remember the experience...”

Teba could not seem to remember his bout either, though he dismissed it on account of his extreme youth.

“I hate to ask...but are you well enough that you might join me on a hunt?”

“What, right now?”

“The stable staff apparently chased off some bokoblins, but they’ve become our problem,” Teba told him.

“Right,” Harth sighed, “just give me a moment.”

Harth stood with the support of his feathered spear. Teba caught him under the wing; it was immediately clear that he was in no shape to stand guard, let alone take on roaming bokoblins.

“It may be time that you take a break,” Teba said, wrapping a wing around Harth and directing him up the stairs.

Harth’s spear slipped from his grip and he stumbled, his whole body shaking as Teba gripped his wing. No doubt splitting his time between incubating his egg and guard duty had worn Harth down.

“C’mon,” Teba urged as Harth sank down on the stairs instead.

“I’m alright. You need a guard; I’ll just stay here.”

“No you won’t,” Teba grunted as he lifted Harth in his wings.

“You don’t need to carry me,” Harth protested without much conviction, resting his head against Teba’s shoulder.

“Clearly.”

Teba conveyed Harth to the inn, shoving aside the curtain as he entered. Though the lanterns were lit, Teba could barely see. The air inside had grown stale without the breeze and even just standing inside the confined space made Teba feel uneasy.

“Bring him here,” said Kass, gesturing to a hammock.

Teba carefully laid Harth in the hammock and Kass covered him with a blanket.

“Ugh, Kass? Can I not have Saki care for me...” Harth complained.

“It disturbs me that you always want my wife to care for you,” Teba told him.

“Your wife’s the healer!”

“Well, we take turns so you will likely get your wish. Until then you’ll be at my tender mercy,” said Kass flatly as he diluted a few drops of a pain reliever in water.

Teba pulled Kass aside as Harth drank the suspension.

“He said he’s had this before...how can he get it again?”

“I don’t know...maybe he had something else,” Kass hazarded, returning the pain reliever to the check in desk.

Teba cleared his throat and followed Kass around the inn as he checked on the Rito in his charge.

“Who among our warriors is still standing?” Teba asked him.

“Mazli has been feeling better, though he says he’s still tired all of the time. Nekk, Mimo...”

“...and you.”

“I’m a little preoccupied with this right now,” said Kass, retrieving Cecili’s fallen blanket, “since Fyson grew ill, Misa hasn’t been here to help. It’s just been me and Saki for the last few days.”

Teba sighed and rubbed hard at his aching head—they did not have the time to waste. Given the rate their warriors were dropping, they would be lucky if any of them was still standing by morning.

“Can Tulin stay with your wife?”

“Teba, I don’t make decisions for her...” sighed Kass.

“Listen. There is a band of bokoblins that must be dealt with _tonight_ ,” Teba said, half thinking aloud, “I’ll summon Saki back here, send Mazli back on duty, and you and I will take Mimo and hunt them down.”

Teba knew this was a desperate plan. Kass’s uneasy expression said much the same.

“Teba...I’m not a warrior.”

“You’re good with a blade. We don’ t know if there will even be anyone well enough to guard the damn bridge come tomorrow!”

Kass rubbed at his chest uncomfortably—Teba often wondered if this was a quirk he had acquired among Hylians—and finally acquiesced.

oOo

Kass had tried his best to extricate himself from the extra duties expected of Rito men with no success. He was exhausted from helping Saki with the ill—a job he had heard disparagingly called ‘women’s work’ by some of the men in the village. This irritated Kass as among Hylians and Sheikah these distinctions were rather more blurry. 

Now, he flew with Teba and Mimo, tracking the bokoblins through the early snowfall. Teba dropped back beside him and gestured for Mimo to join them.

“Three silvers and a gold,” said Teba.

The bokoblins huddled around the campfire, eating and squalling. A large carcass lay in the bloody snow nearby.

“Are they eating a moose?” Mimo asked in disgust.

“I’m afraid I am woefully unprepared for this,” Kass protested.

“If they approach Mazli and Nekk at the bridge, our guards will not stand a chance,” said Teba.

“Then perhaps we ought to burn the bridge,” suggested Mimo.

“They will continue to attack the stable,” said Teba.

Kass sighed; Teba was right. Kass had come to abhor violence—even against these loathsome creatures—but he realized someone had to clean up the mess the Rito had made when they destroyed so many monster colonies. That did not mean he was pleased to be the one upon whom that responsibility fell.

“We will provide cover for you, Kass,” said Teba.

Kass nodded, wishing desperately that he had Cyd or Silda to put his back against when he landed. He dove in in aerial manoeuvre he had seen the Rito warriors use many times. Instead of turning back to the sky, Kass drew his feathered edge and caught one silver bokoblin unawares. Unfortunately, the hit was not fatal and the monsters descended upon him.

As Teba and Mimo provided cover, Kass tried to do battle on all sides. He was quickly becoming overwhelmed. Though he managed to take down a silver bokoblin that was stuck with two arrows, Kass was quickly giving in to panic when he heard an arrow whistle by his face.

Suddenly, he felt a back pressed against his.

“Keep fighting,” Teba grunted, drawing his feathered edge.

The rest of the band encircled them, though Teba skilfully fought off their attacks. Mimo tried to land a clear shot from above, but his arrows whizzed harmlessly in the snow in his panic. Kass’s feathered edge bent as he parried a heavy blow from a spiked bat. He sorely regretted switching from his eightfold blade to the more delicate Rito blade.

“We have to leave!” Mimo shouted.

“We must finish this!” Teba yelled, drawing his bow and sinking an arrow into the gold bokoblin’s eye.

An arrow brushed Mimo’s wing and he shrieked and flew off into the night.

“Mimo you fucking coward!” Teba shouted after him.

Kass threw his damaged blade into the face of the nearest bokoblin. Taking a deep breath he drew the small dagger that Silda had given him so many years ago and rushed the creature while it was off balance. When he had defeated his bokoblin he turned to see Teba finishing the last one with his feathered edge.

“Well...the job’s done,” panted Kass, sheathing his dagger and collecting Mimo’s stray arrows.

“Kass...”

Kass turned to see Teba staring at his shaking hand, blood contrasting starkly with the white feathers. Kass dropped the arrows and put a wing around Teba as his legs shook beneath him. Kass settled him against a decaying tree trunk near the bokoblin’s campfire.

“Where’s the blood coming from?” Kass asked.

Teba gestured vaguely at his side, and Kass spotted where a weapon had glanced off Teba’s leather armour and across his side. Kass probed the wound gently; it was barely a scratch. Kass had seen Teba continue fighting in much graver circumstances.

“It’s not very deep; hardly bleeding at all! This blood isn’t even all yours...What’s the matter with you?”

Kass caught Teba as he leaned forward, shuddering involuntarily.

“You’re ill,” Kass realized aloud.

Teba nodded.

“Did you realize this before we left the village?”

Teba did not answer, just tried to fix Kass with a serious look.

“You did.”

“I did what I had to.”

The anger that washed over Kass was swift and unexpected. He stood up and walked away from Teba, afraid he might strike him for his idiocy. This was how all Rito warriors died—not in a moment of glorious battle, but like fools who overestimate their abilities.

“You got lucky, Teba!” Kass shouted, his eyes burning as he thought of Genik and Kyvoro and the broken pieces they had left behind.

“Stop shouting,” said Teba, laying his head back on the bark-stripped wood, “you’ll bring every monster in Hebra down upon us.”

Kass scrubbed the back of his wing against his eyes and scanned the area for shelter. The bloody trail and carcass of the moose the bokoblins had brought down would no doubt attract all manner of predators.

“I don’t know why you’re so upset at me,” grumbled Teba, “Mimo was the coward who left us.”

“Mimo’s the only one who was thinking straight! I can’t believe you talked me into this!”

Teba grit his beak and tried to suppress a pained noise. Kass knelt in front of him and held his face—albeit a little roughly. He could already feel the fever burning through Teba’s feathers.

“Can you fly?” Kass asked him

“I can can barely stand,” Teba admitted painfully.

“This isn’t good...” Kass sighed to himself.

“No...I thought this was excellent,” groused Teba through his clenched beak.

“I can’t fly you back...I can’t take off with you.”

“I don’t want you to,” Teba said stubbornly.

“I’m not about to leave you out here to die,” Kass told him.

“You may have to...I know that you can’t bear this cold for the rest of the night.”

“Then let’s go,” said Kass as he pulled Teba’s wing over his shoulders and hauled him to his feet.

Teba moaned and nearly folded double at the pain he experienced now that the rush of battle had left him, but Kass was far too angry to let Teba slow them down. Kass gripped the wing that wound over his shoulders and pulled Teba closer, ignoring his noise of protest.

As they plodded through the fresh snow, Kass’s mind was stuck on Genik. He realized he was still just as furious at him as he was devastated by his loss. Kass knew that Misa was right now keeping watch over their sick child alone; the thought made him nearly weep with bitterness. He tightened his grip around Teba and let his anger fuel his determination that he and Teba would make their way out of this this alive.

“Kass...” panted Teba, as he stumbled and pulled Kass part of the way down to the ground with him.

Kass let Teba slide down into the snow for a moment while he readjusted his weapons belt and leather armour. His clothes no longer digging into places they shouldn’t, Kass dragged Teba back to is feet, ignoring his pained protests as they plodded on.

“You’re not leaving your child,” Kass told him angrily, “Tulin is too young even to remember how much you care for him.”

“Did you know your father, Kass?” Teba asked at length.

“Not well...” said Kass, remembering the green and yellow feathers he had burrowed into more clearly in this moment than he had in years.

“What did he do?”

“He fished...from the sea...” said Kass distantly, “he wasn’t very patient...but how to catch a fish is one thing he managed to teach me...”

Kass had never spoken of his father aloud to anyone. The pain of that loss belonged to another lifetime, but he could not deny that he often searched his remembrances for some scrap of his parents on those nights when his daughters snuggled close for warmth. It was a source of deep conflict that these excavations into his memory usually ended with the clearest memories of Olin tucking his blankets around him and stroking his face.

“What of your father, Teba?” Kass asked, trying to keep the warrior focused.

“I didn’t know much of my father,” said Teba, “save that he was First Warrior and he died like this.”

“Pathetically rolling in the snow over a scratch?” Kass asked, hoping to enrage the warrior enough that he might fight to preserve himself.

“He died in battle...”

“You all seem to. It’s why I wanted to quit this,” Kass said, not bothering to hide the bile that crept into his tone.

“And your father? Did he not fight to his death?”

“I don’t know...I don’t think about it...I hope only that it was quick.”

“It is the legends left behind by our fathers that drive us to action to protect the village.”

“Oh, so you want Tulin to grow up fatherless so he knows which end of the sword to hold?”

Teba’s legs gave out again and Kass let him slide back into the soft autumn snow. Kass stood, panting in exhaustion as Teba shivered.

“I want him to believe that I died in battle, not lying ill in the snow,” Teba choked, hiding his tears with his wing.

Kass knelt heavily beside him, still trying to catch his breath. He had never imagined he would see Teba in such a wretched state. Softened by Teba’s unguarded admission, Kass wrapped his wings around him and pulled the piteous warrior close. The heat of his fever was unbelievable as Kass rested his head against Teba’s.

“It’s alright,” Kass told him, his anger dissipating as Teba’s antagonistic façade shattered in his distress.

“I don’t want him to grow up without me!” Teba finally admitted, sobbing bitterly, “I can’t leave Saki to do it all alone!”

“You’re right,” said Kass, trying to comfort him, “you’re absolutely right. I’m getting us home.”

Teba just laughed despairingly and closed his eyes.

“The hard way, then,” said Kass.

He pulled Teba’s wings over his shoulders and dragged him onto his back. As Kass plodded through the snow, he found that Teba was not overly heavy, but he had grown far too weak to hold on. 

Kass could see the light from the stable ahead when he looked up. Returning his gaze to the ground so that he would not stumble, Kass focused on the way his feet punched through the snow as he made for the bridge. He blinked hard and shook his head as the snow seemed to warp weirdly in his vision. Teba moaned and moved his wing uncomfortably.

“We’re nearly there,” Kass managed, trying to keep his heavy eyelids open.

Kass blinked hard and lost track of where he was. As he lost his footing, Teba slid from his back and crashed into the snow. He did not even really feel cold anymore, Kass thought as he fell forward into the snow beside Teba.

“I’m sorry...I really tried,” muttered Kass.

“I know,” Teba rasped, laying his wing over Kass’s.

“Maybe I could just sleep for a moment...”

“Don’t, Kass, you’ll die.”

Kass whimpered a little against his will.

“what about your daughters?”

“...oh my little ones...” 

Kass’s face sank into the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t really been leaving cliffhangers in this story, but getting Kass and Teba into a place where they can get along like adults has been really challenging and requires the kind of soul-searching that Teba is unwilling to do. I’ll do my best to update soon.
> 
> Take care <3


	28. The Exile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After years of warrior code nonsense, Kass finally snaps.

“Kass! Teba!”

Kass lifted his head from the snow to see Mazli and Nekk flying from the bridge. He wondered if he had fallen asleep for a little while.

“Teba...we’re saved,” he said, reaching his stiff wing out to shove Teba.

“Goddess, you’re still alive,” said Nekk as he landed.

“Hold on, Kass,” Mazli said.

Kass felt warm wings around him and held onto Mazli as he hauled him to his feet. Beside him, Nekk scooped up Teba in his wings. Teba seemed to have lost consciousness in the few moments that Kass had shut his eyes...perhaps it had been longer...

“Nekk...” Kass rasped, “is he...?”

“He’s alive,” said Nekk.

“What happened?” Mazli asked Kass.

“Teba fell ill...” 

“And you?” pressed Mazli, catching him as he stumbled

“It’s the cold.”

Kass’s body had grown stiff from his nap in the snow and his extremities were on fire with pain. He was glad for Mazli’s support as he shivered and shambled his way across the bridges and stacks behind Nekk.

As they reached the inn, Mazli held aside the curtain for Nekk.

“Both of them?” Saki asked as Nekk laid Teba in the last open hammock.

“Kass says he’s just chilled,” Mazli said.

“Take him back to his wife; he’s no use to me like this,” Saki directed as she tucked in her own spouse and stroked his face.

“Let’s go, Kass,” Mazli encouraged.

Kass desperately wanted to sleep. He stumbled up the boardwalk with Mazli, his body aching from the cold.

“Careful,” Mazli warned Kass as he nearly pitched forward into his roost.

There, he saw his girls asleep, tucked into their hammocks. Tulin was curled up in the adult-sized guest hammock. 

“What happened?” Amali whispered, jumping down from her hammock to take Kass from Mazli.

“Just a chill,” said Kass, wrapping his wings around his wife.

“Goddess, you’re freezing...Mazli, thank you,” she said, dismissing the guard.

Kass couldn’t seem to get his weapons belt undone. Amali bent to help him undo the buckles on the belt and leather layer.

“I’ve been awake all night with worry,” Amali told him.

“You should inform Teba...” he told her as he clumsily pulled himself into his hammock.

“I’m informing you,” she said.

Amali slid into Kass’s hammock beside him and pulled their blankets over them. Though it was cramped, he was glad to have his wife pressed against his freezing body.

“Remember what happened last time we did this...” he said, shivering.

“That’s not what’s happening,” said said, wrapping her wings around him.

“You’re so warm.”

“Kass, what in Hylia’s name happened?”

The whole thing seemed a little hazy as he nestled his face against Amali’s neck.

“Teba made me fight some bokoblins...and then I had to carry him back...”

Something else had happened...hadn’t someone been with them?

“Oh, right. Mimo disappeared. I think Teba may kill him.”

“Your story seems to be missing some important details, my love,” Amali sighed, stroking his crest.

“Yeah...tomorrow then,” said Kass as he let the darkness envelop him.

oOo

The next morning, Kass still felt stiff and exhausted from the previous night. He dragged himself from his hammock, recalling that Saki had been left alone to manage those who had fallen ill at the inn.

“You slept quite late,” said Amali.

“I have to go,” he said, “Saki needs my help.”

“Kass, it’s alright. Saki told me Laissa has been helping at the inn.”

“She won’t know where everything is,” Kass said

“Have something to eat before you go at least,” she pressed.

She offered him a plate of baked apple and roast fowl. Kass sat on the floor with Amali and his daughters as he ate. He recalled how very close he came to not returning the night before and had to bite back his tears. He stroked Cree’s crest as she peeped at her sisters.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he said to Amali as he rose.

“Whatever for?”

“That I have to be away from you all right now,” he said, standing.

Amali joined him at the door and held his face.

“I’m glad that you care so much,” she told him, “about our people...about everything.”

She gently rubbed her beak against his and let him go.

Kass had nearly made it to the inn when he saw Huck and Mazli half-dragging Mimo up the boardwalk. Mimo struggled against the ropes that bound his wings behind him at the elbow. He was unable to completely open one eye and flinched when Huck grasped his wing more tightly.

“What is the meaning of this?” Kass asked.

“I don’t need your help, foreigner!” Mimo spat.

“This is Teba’s order,” said Mazli grimly.

“What?” asked Kass in dismay.

“He sent word for us to fetch this little coward last night,” said Huck.

Mimo tried to look defiant, but winced as Huck frog-marched him up the boardwalk toward the elder’s roost. Kass watched in dismay then shoved his way into the inn. He approached Teba’s hammock and prodded his shoulder roughly to awaken him.

“Oh...Kass...”

“Yes, it’s me,” he said angrily.

“I believe I should thank you.”

“Don’t bother! Why have you had Mimo apprehended?”

Teba’s puzzled expression as though he did not understand the question.

“Huck and Mazli have Mimo tied up and they’re taking him to the elder,” said Kass.

“Cowardice among Rito warriors used to be punishable by death. Now the arbiters will decide his fate.”

Teba laid his head back and placed his hand on his throat.

“Might I have some water?”

“You don’t need to do this, Teba,” said Kass, ignoring the request, “Mimo is barely grown, he was frightened!”

“There is no place for fear in a warrior’s heart.”

“Goddess, I can’t believe you...”

“Unlike you, Mimo grew up knowing the consequences for his behaviour.”

Kass stared at Teba for a moment, his beak clenched against the collection of sleights the statement contained. After all they had been through, Teba still saw Kass as an outsider.

“Get your own damn water,” Kass snapped, leaving the inn.

Kass rubbed at his beak and then immediately dropped his hand to his side, concerned that the gesture was too Hylian. He took a deep breath and made his way up the boardwalk to Kaneli’s roost. With each step he tried to plot a way out of this place...he could take Amali and his daughters and go to Kakariko Village and get away from this nonsense. Goddess, all these years Genik had been right!

“Kass,” said Kaneli.

Kass did not know whether he was about to cry or lash out at the elder. Kaneli seemed to sense this and stood, his wings extended to Kass in a gesture of peace.

“Where have they taken Mimo?” Kass demanded.

“Kass, we have methods for dealing with this. I have been quite lenient with your tendency to come and go as you please because you have been a fine addition to our village. I even respect that you are not from a warrior tradition and have convinced Teba to let it go...but in this you cannot meddle.”

“How can you think this is right? He was afraid!”

“I am here to advise and set a course for the future of our tribe. My word isn’t law. I will advise leniency, but there is nothing more I can do...sadly, Mimo is not well-loved. I fear no arbiter will be truly disinterested.”

“I was present at the incident. I wish only to speak with him,” said Kass desperately.

“He will remain under watch at the guard’s post. Do not attempt to free him. He must be dealt with according to our codes of justice,” Kaneli warned him.

Kass left the elder’s roost and leapt from a small landing to glide to the base of the village. He found he did not wish to speak with anyone he may encounter on the boardwalk. When he landed, he saw Mimo sat in the guard’s post, his wings tied with rope through the slats. Mazli stood at his usual post, slouching against his spear.

“Whoa, Kass,” Mazli said as Kass strode toward the structure.

Kass held up his wings in surrender.

“I’m just going to talk to him.”

“Be quick about it,” said Mazli, glancing over his shoulder as though Teba might be watching.

“I don’t have anything to say to you,” said Mimo as Kass entered the covered post.

“What happened to your eye?” Kass asked, crouching down and barely touching Mimo’s swollen cheek.

Mimo flinched away from the touch, but said nothing.

“You should know...” said Mazli uncomfortably, “that was Huck...”

“Mazli wants to save face. He doesn’t want you to think he’s cruel,” Mimo told Kass loudly, “but he forgets that he’s the insufferable gossip that stated the rumour about you and Antilli.”

Kass glanced back at Mazli, who had the good grace to look ashamed. He was not here for that right now though. He sighed and turned back to Mimo.

“What happened last night?”

“Didn’t you hear Teba? I’m a coward.”

“I’ve seen you in battle before; you’re not a coward.”

Mimo closed his eyes and pressed his head back against the wooden frame of the guards’ station. Kass waited patiently. Mimo was restless, and Kass knew he could not hold in whatever was bothering him.

“Just tell me why,” said Kass gently as Mimo fidgeted.

“I told you.”

“There is nothing that will make me believe that you did something wrong. Not on this account, anyway.”

“You remember the night...Kyvoro...”

Kass nodded.

“I saw it happen...sometimes it still wakes me up at night...I couldn't watch that happen again...”

Kass put a hand on Mimo’s shoulder and he jerked away as far as his restraints would allow.

“I don’t need your pity! I know what I am, and I’ll accept my exile!”

“Alright,” said Kass, getting up, “there are others I must tend to anyway.”

Kass left the guards’ post and Mazli approached looking ashamed.

“Kass...”

“Whatever you wish to say, keep it to yourself,” said Kass sharply, “if you are indeed the source of this rumour, you surely could not have avoided hearing about the destruction it caused. Let it be a lesson in the damage you can do to the lives of others with careless words.”

“I never meant—”

“Be grateful that Teba did not have you punished more harshly,” Kass told him as he headed back to the village.

oOo

Mimo was dealt with swiftly. The elder selected four parties to hear his account and Teba’s charges against him. Kass made efforts to have his voice heard in the proceedings, but Rito justice hinged upon whether or not the accused party disputed the claims. For his part, Mimo denied nothing and accepted the mantle of ‘coward’ unflinchingly.

“The arbiters have given their decision,” Kaneli announced, to the few Rito who gathered at the base of the village, “Mimo, you are to spend six summers in total exile. Your exile will be lifted upon its completion or upon the discovery of other Rito settlements. You are to leave by dawn.”

Kass watched as Mimo’s air of nonchalant acceptance cracked and he began to weep at the pronouncement. He was released from his bonds, but seemed to have no idea what to do with himself. Kass stepped forward and grabbed his wing.

“Come with me.”

“I’ve told you there’s nothing you can offer me,” Mimo said forcefully through his tears.

“I could not defend you, but I can help you now. I’ve lived outside of Rito territory and I have a great deal to offer on that subject,” said Kass, leading him up the boardwalk.

As Mimo followed Kass up the boardwalk Rito cleared a path. Kass wondered if this was another case where Rito avoided those who had the stain of misdeed upon them.

“Kass!” exclaimed Amali as Mimo entered their roost.

Amali’s reaction confirmed Kass’s supposition. Mimo quickly backed out of the roost.

“It’s alright. I’m going,” he said, his wings raised a little in surrender.

“Don’t,” said Kass.

“He can’t be in here!” Amali fretted.

“She’s right...I’m bad fortune now,” said Mimo.

“I don’t care about Rito superstitions,” said Kass, digging through his trunk.

“Kass! I normally don’t mind that you flout our customs, but this is unacceptable!” Amali shouted.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” said Kass.

“He knows he shouldn’t be here!” snapped Amali.

“She’s right,” agreed Mimo.

Mimo continued to back away from the roost. Kass sighed and pulled his map-case and a letter he had been holding on to from the trunk and left the roost.

“I have what I need,” said Kass, “let’s go, Mimo.”

As Kass led the way to Revali’s Landing Mimo wrapped his wings around himself, rubbing at his feathers anxiously.

“Do Rito think cowardice is contagious?” Kass asked in disgust.

“No, don’t be ridiculous...I’m an exile...I may have until tomorrow to leave, but my punishment began as soon as as the pronouncement was made.”

Kass shook his head and began laying out maps on the landing. He could not summon the energy to care about the stares of passing Rito as Mimo crouched down beside him.

“You should really distance yourself from me...you’re going to be shunned,” said Mimo.

“I don’t care. As you often point out, I will always be foreign to the Rito,” said Kass acidly.

“I’ve come to regret that,” muttered Mimo, bristling at the stares from the boardwalk.

“Come look at these. Do you recognize them?”

“I can read maps,” said Mimo defensively.

“In order to survive out there you have to be able to make a living. Pay attention; these are the stables. Stables use messengers on horseback when they need to communicate, but flying is faster. If you offer your services to them you can charge a fee.”

“Alright,” Mimo said, leaning in to examine map.

Kass began pointing out villages.

“Hylians have settlements in Hateno and Lurelin...don’t ever go to Lurelin...The Sheikah live in Kakariko Village, here.”

Kass pulled a sealed and folded piece of paper from the pile of things he had taken from the trunk.

“I need you to take this letter to an old man named Olin who lives there.”

“This is a lot to take in...” Mimo agonized.

“This is for your service,” said Kass, handing Mimo a purse with a few rupees, “deliver the letter into Olin’s hands.”

“Kass...”

“Listen. There are very few truly safe places in this world. Kakariko Village is the safest place I know. The Sheikah neither fear nor hate Rito and I am well-know there. If you are in trouble, tell them I sent you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Mimo asked as Kass rolled and packed the maps into the leather case.

“I was never exiled,” said Kass, “but I have been the lone Rito in that world...even I was never so truly alone as you will be.”

“Most Rito exiled for such a long period,” said Mimo quietly, “they never come back; they die of loneliness.”

“I don’t want that for you,” Kass said.

Mimo closed his eyes and hid his face in his wing. Kass thought better of reaching out to comfort him after his last attempts.

“This won’t be easy for you,” Kass said, “but if you can make connections with Hylians or Sheikah or anyone else out there in that world...then you’ll be alright.”

“I have to pack...” said Mimo, regaining his composure.

“Take these,” said Kass, handing him the leather case.

“These are yours...good maps are so hard to come by.”

“So, you’ll bring them back.”

“Kass...I don’t know how to thank you...”

“Just be careful.”

Mimo nodded and left for his roost to pack for his exile.

oOo

Kass spent the night in the inn, tending to the Rito who still filled the hammocks there. Most had fallen asleep under the effects of the pain reliever, so Kass sat down on a stool and rested his head against the desk. 

Amali had been furious with him for bringing an exile into their home when he had returned from his meeting with Mimo. She worried that they might be marked by the other Rito as outsiders as well, though Kass pointed out that far to many were lying in the inn to be bothered with them. The narrow-mindedness of it all made him want to take flight too.

“Kass?”

Kass lifted his head at the quiet voice. Teba stirred in his hammock. Kass reluctantly forced himself to stand and approach him.

“Are you in pain?” Kass asked straightforwardly.

“I don’t need anything...did Harth’s egg hatch safely?” he asked, glancing over at his friend’s hammock.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear the commotion. Yes, they have a little girl and Harth was quite sad to have to miss it,” Kass told him.

“I’m relieved that she came safely into the world.”

“Perhaps you should sleep,” Kass suggested sharply.

In these last few days, Kass had had enough of the First Warrior to last him a lifetime. He was disgusted by Teba’s vindictiveness and his recklessness even as he was begrudgingly impressed by his devotion to the safety of the village.

“Kass,” said Teba, looking rather ashamed, “you saved my life at great risk to your own.”

“I would be happiest if we never mentioned that night again,” said Kass, turning away to go back to his seat.

“Don’t go...I’ve been thinking...”

“About what?” Kass asked, returning to the side of his hammock.

“I think...it is proving quite bad for morale to force Rito into training against their will,” said Teba carefully, “too many children here grow up without their fathers.”

“How’s your fever?” Kass asked, surprised at Teba’s sudden turn.

“This isn’t the fever,” Teba said, flinching away from Kass’s hand on his face.

“What then?”

“It pains me to say it, but you’ve been right all this time. We should leave the monster colonies alone—so long as they don’t rebuild too near the stable. We guard the village, but we cease our hunting. Perhaps if they are left alone they will keep to themselves.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“We’re too few to keep this up. The warriors are not what they were in my father’s time, or even a decade ago. We cannot rebuild our civilization if we all fall on the field of battle.”

Kass was so surprised to hear Teba finally saying something rational that he plucked at a down feather on his wing to make sure he was not dreaming this.

“That’s very reasonable of you,” Kass finally said.

“And this life seems to be quite unsuitable for those of use who don’t have a warrior’s soul,” said Teba, apparently unable to let the opportunity escape him.

“Rest, Teba,” said Kass flatly, returning to his seat.

Within a few weeks, Teba had shown he was true to his word. As the hunting activities dropped off, so, too, did attacks near the stable. Kass was relieved that he was not called upon to join the ranks of the warriors again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to keep you in suspense for too long :)
> 
> Stay well friends!


	29. Dropped with the Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in Rito village goes on as it always does; Kass grows nostalgic.

“Papa!”

Kass had just pulled out his accordion to play on the landing near the shrine. He turned to see his daughters racing towards him, shouting ‘Papa’ over and over as they hopped along excitedly. They had with them a young Hylian woman that Kass recognized from the stable and they all chattered at her simultaneously. She approached Kass, looking a little overwhelmed.

“I apologize, I’ve forgotten your name,” he said to her.

“This is Ariane, Papa! She’s looking for you!” said Notts.

“Thank you,” Kass told his daughters, “you’ve been very helpful. Why don’t you go play?”

They said their goodbyes to Ariane—a cacophony of sweet little voices that were always a little too loud—and ran off down the boardwalk. Kass was grateful for the silence.

“Goodness, are they all yours?” asked Ariane, grinning after them.

All Hylians seemed to smile at Rito children the way Ariane did, Kass had noticed. Though, his daughters were exceptionally adorable, even if he did say so himself.

“They are,” he said, “but you were looking for me?”

“Only if you’re Kass.”

“I am.”

“I’ve had a bit of a strange request,” she began uncomfortably.

She looked around to see if other Rito were in earshot before stepping in close to Kass and lowering her voice.

“There’s a Rito called Mimo at the stable. He says he wishes to speak only to you.”

“Of course,” said Kass, packing up his accordion, “I’ll come at once.”

Kass followed Ariane down the boardwalks—stopping briefly at his roost to put away his accordion—and across the bridges between the stacks. Mazli and Gesane stood at their posts as usual and greeted both Kass and Ariane as they passed. The late summer air was still warm, but Kass could feel that hint of cold in the breeze that signalled the changing of the season was not far off. 

When Kass arrived at the stable he found Mimo sitting at the table inside. Kass guessed this was a tactic to avoid being seen by Gesane from the bridge. He joined Mimo at the table.

“Your exile is over in a matter of days...why the secrecy?” Kass asked.

“I’m not coming back,” said Mimo.

“You could still come back. Things aren’t really the same as when you left; the warriors have disbanded save for Teba and a few guards. You wouldn’t have to worry about facing them at the Flight Range.”

Mimo was not listening. He pulled a bundle wrapped with frayed twine from his satchel and dropped it on the table in front of Kass.

“Here...I met some of your friends. The Hylian couple...the Gerudo woman and Cyd...you’ve a few letters from Kakariko Village as well.”

Kass accepted the bundle of letters which looked as though they had seen some weather. One was marked with Erie’s tiny script, another with Murera’s jagged scrawl, and a small stack were written in Olin’s hand.

“How long have you had these?” Kass asked.

“Well, I haven’t been allowed to come back here, have I?”

“Thank you,” Kass sighed.

“You’re forgetting something,” said Mimo, holding out his hand.

“Glad to see the outside world hasn’t changed you,” Kass said sarcastically as he scrounged in his purse for a few rupees.

“Look. I don’t want to come back to the village...but I do need your help with something,” said Mimo.

“You probably shouldn’t have fleeced me before you asked for a favour, but go on,” said Kass dryly.

“I want to be allowed to come and go from the village so I can keep doing this...has Kaneli lifted his restrictions on travel?”

“Sort of...” Kass hesitated.

“Well?”

“He did, for a little bit...and Frita left and hasn’t come back...”

“Oh, well I know where Frita is,” said Mimo in surprise.

“Really?”

“I’m not telling _you_. This is my bargaining chip.”

“So you’re willing to bargain away someone else’s freedom in order to secure your own?” Kass asked incredulously.

“It’s a tough world out there. You told me to get to know Hylians and did I ever get to know them. The ones I’ve met...they’re mercurial, treacherous, pursue wealth at all costs. They don’t live for a communal common good...and neither do I now.”

“I won’t be your go-between,” said Kass, standing.

“C’mon, Kass...”

“I wanted to help you when you were exiled because you were young and afraid. I was not very popular after that...and now...no, my generosity is not unlimited.”

Kass stalked from the stable towards the bridge. He was stopped in his tracks when he came into view of the end of the bridge. Ariane and Gesane hurriedly stepped back from each other, their guilty expressions suggesting that theirs was more than a simple conversation. Ariane avoided Kass’s eyes as she ran back to the stable, her face burning with embarrassment. Gesane cautiously approached Kass.

“Please don’t say anything,” Gesane begged as he followed Kass across the bridge.

“I never do,” Kass said, turning angrily to face Gesane.

“I know that no one would understand...I’m supposed to marry Bedoli...”

“I wasn’t even certain what I saw until you mentioned your betrothal. This is not my concern.”

“I know that...to have feelings for a Hylian is not acceptable,” Gesane said haltingly.

Kass had to confess that it had been a long time since his youthful romance with Jerrin had crossed his mind. Once—Olin had told him—such romances were not so taboo. No doubt Gesane and Ariane saw each other every day and their love had blossomed while he stood guard and she worked around the stable. Kass’s heart went out to them; even if the Hylians accepted it, the Rito would see it as an impediment to rebuilding their flock.

“You might be comforted to know that it’s more common than you think,” Kass sighed, “but you aren’t being discreet, and there’s someone in that stable who would sell your secret for almost nothing.”

Gesane nodded, still looking panicked.

“All love should be celebrated...but that isn’t the kind of world we live in. Just be careful,” said Kass, leaving Gesane standing on the bridge.

oOo

“I suppose it was bound to come out sometime,” Amali said.

Kass lay in his hammock wracked with guilt as he looked through his letters.

“Yes,” he said, “but I didn’t need to tell him.”

“Mimo knew Frita’s location before you mentioned it,” Amali reminded him.

“Yes...but I can’t help but feel responsible for giving him the context to weaponize it.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“It’s not my fault that Guy’s going out to fetch her?”

“No. He won’t be able to get her if she’s in Gerudo Town anyway...”

“Is this common knowledge?” Kass asked.

“Yes, Kass. All the women knew Lodli went to Gerudo Town all those years ago. It’s why Frita went there.”

“Every time I think I know all of these secrets I just run into a whole new layer of them,” he remarked.

“Well, what do your letters say?”

“Not much. Erie and Silda are travelling; Cyd and Murera have left Gerudo Town to raise their daughter together...but these letters could be from six summers ago.”

“What of Olin?”

“That he’s well...he’s still composing in his old age.”

Kass didn’t tell her of the sadness in Olin’s words: how he had grown nostalgic for the days when he and Kass would ride through Hyrule together; how achingly he confessed he missed him; how in his mind’s eye, Kass was always still a child. Olin’s once fine, curling script had grown shaky in his extreme age. Kass pressed the bundle of letters to his breast, badly missing their senders.

“Someone should warn Guy what awaits him in Gerudo Town,” Amali said.

“We gave Kaneli our report when we returned...Goddess, that was nearly a decade ago.”

“Exactly.”

“It’d be really nice to travel again, wouldn’t it?” said Kass, fondly tucking his letters into a chest where he kept his maps.

“My love, it feels like I’m hinting as hard as I possibly can...” Amali sighed.

Kass stared at his wife and she shook her head.

“Go warn Guy about Gerudo Town so he doesn’t end up on the end of a spear!”

“Alright,” Kass sighed.

He strode down the boardwalk to Guy’s roost and found him packing for the journey alone.

“Guy.”

“Oh, Kass. Come in,” he said in surprise, “I’m about to set out.”

“About that...”

“Kaneli said that Kyvoro may have damaged our relations with the Gerudo when he left all those years ago.”

“And you’re still going? The Gerudo won’t hesitate to put you to death if you approach their town,” said Kass in concern.

“Surely it can’t be than serious...”

“Have you known me to lie?”

“I seem to recall one instance when you said yanking an arrow through my wing wouldn’t hurt,” Guy said.

“Perhaps you misremember; that doesn’t sound like me.”

“Look...Frita’s my sister. I won’t make her come back if she doesn’t want to; even Kaneli cannot compel me to do that. I just need to know that she’s safe.”

“And you can’t do that if the Gerudo capture you,” said Kass, “there’s a bazaar not far from the town, men are allowed there. Get a message to her from there if you can...but please, be careful.”

“I have a wife and kid to come home to,” said Guy, slinging his bow, “I’m not about to try anything stupid.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

“But, ah...if I’m gone for a while...don’t let them send anyone out after me,” he said meaningfully.

“I could hardly stop that. Might be best if you send word home...I’m sure Mimo will be thrilled to bring your letters, but he’ll charge you through the beak,” Kass said darkly.

“I’ll watch out for him. Take care of yourself, Kass,” said Guy, clasping his shoulder as he passed.

As Kass watched Guy disappear up the boardwalk he found that he was envious that Guy would be setting out beyond the Rito borders. He wondered if his daughters would soon be old enough to undertake a journey with him to Kakariko Village.

oOo

Kass spent the winter as he had the last few years: teaching his daughters their letters, how to read music, and a number of Rito songs he had dug up from old books in Kaneli’s small library. The Rito were no longer the great composers they had been in bygone ages, but parents still taught their children to read and write. Kass found he expected far more and made his own children read from the collection of poems Olin had given him years ago.

“But why must we learn Sheikah poems?” asked Cree, staring at the ceiling of the roost in order to avoid looking at the page in front of her.

“If I had poems from all the peoples of Hyrule I would have you read them all,” said Kass, tapping a finger on the book to refocus Cree.

“That’s so much poetry...” Kheel said, flopping back onto the floor.

“Sit up, Kheel.”

“No one else reads as much poetry as we do,” complained Genli combatively.

“You will find there is a great deal even beyond poetry to read,” said Kass, “if there is something that might interest you more I can try to find it.”

“Tulin gets to fly at the Flight Range with his dad, but I’m a much stronger flyer! Papa, why can’t I train as a warrior instead of a poet?” Genli ranted.

“What?” asked Kass, his blood running cold.

“Even Molli has been to the Flight Range and she’s a runt,” she told him.

“I’m sure that’s not true, and we don’t call others names,” said Kass, stumbling over the many problems with what Genli had just told him.

“No, she is a runt,” insisted Notts matter-of-factly, looking up from where she lay on her belly reading contentedly.

“She’s small, everyone says so,” Kheel agreed.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Kass pinching his beak in annoyance, “we judge people on their deeds, not what they look like.”

“That’s good, because everyone says you look like a foreigner,” said Kheel.

“That just means I was hatched somewhere else,” Kass told them as patiently as he could.

“That’s why you’re not a warrior!” said Genli, “but Mommy’s family was full of warriors.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Fyson,” said Genli, “he said his father was a great warrior who fought bokoblins, and lizafos, and a hinox...”

Kass stared in shock at Genli as she listed off all of Genik’s alleged battles. She knew so little of the warrior for whom she had been named. He did not know what Amali had told her of Genik, but Kass found he wasn’t entirely sure what to say on the matter.

“Fyson’s father was loved for his kindness, not for his skill with a bow,” Kass told her gently.

“I could be a kind warrior,” she said, clearly not about to drop it.

“Don’t tell your mother,” sighed Kass.

“I hate reading,” Kotts declared.

“It is in the written word that all of our history is preserved,” Kass reminded her.

Kass often felt guilty for this wonderful gift Olin had given him. In his life he had known so many who could not share in it. Whether or not his daughters enjoyed learning as he had, he was not about to let them operate in ignorance of the world the way the Rito preferred to. He could not teach his children a trade or how to fight as Harth and Teba could teach theirs, but Kass knew far more about Hyrule than the rest of the Rito. He would give his children that small advantage at least.

“I just want to draw,” said Kotts.

“I don’t know of any Rito artists who could teach you,” said Kass.

“Not art,” she clarified, “maps. I want to be a mapmaker like the girl from your stories.”

“Erie is a real person,” Kass reminded her, “and you must be able to read and write to label your maps.”

“If they’re real, then how come we’ve never met your friends?” asked Kheel.

“Papa doesn’t have any friends except us,” Notts pointed out.

As the girls bickered and continued to avoid their reading Kass sat down with a sort of cold ache. Their observation hit Kass much harder than he cared to admit. He had taken great pains to help the Rito over the last decade, but all the people he cared about most seemed to have fallen away. He had barely been aware of his transition from adventurer to reluctant warrior to homebody. 

As he looked out at the melting snows Kass felt an ache for what was. He would never trade the home he had gained for the uncertainty of setting up stables, but a part of him missed the fellowship. How many days had he spent riding with Cyd and Erie and Silda? How many nights had they slept under the stars together?

He told himself that he shared the stories of their adventures with his daughters so that they might know what it is to live outside of Rito Village. He wanted his daughters to know that the world was not always an easy place to live, but that they could find friendship even in the ugliest of times. Truthfully, he ached to wrap each one of his friends in his wings again and the stories reminded him of a time when he had learned what it was to have such trust in others.

“Papa, you’ve gone quiet,” said Cree, squirming under his wing.

“Yes, Cree,” he said, letting her crawl into his lap.

“When I look out at the melting snow I see a dragon in the dirt,” she said, pointing out the dark patch of earth.

“I believe I see it too,” agreed Kass.

“What do you see?”

“Times past,” he sighed sadly.

oOo

It was late spring. The sweet warming air blew through the roosts, carrying with it the scents of pine and delicate floral blossoms. Amali normally relished in the beauty of the spring, so welcomed after the harsh winters. This spring was not so joyful and pleasant.

Antilli had lain egg-bound in the lowered hammock for days, no longer able to leave her roost. In those few instances where Harth grew too exhausted or Saki was called away to other responsibilities Amali would stay with Antilli, her heart aching. Teba had come by a few times, but Amali knew that if the warrior could not do battle with something he was rarely likely to engage it. Amali thought she might understand that—she hated feeling helpless as well.

“Amali,” said Antilli lethargically, grasping her hand.

“Yes?”

“Where’s Harth?”

“Saki took him to get some air,” Amali told her, smoothing Antilli’s feathers.

“He doesn’t believe what’s happening...”

“Don’t talk like that,” said Amali.

Amali could hardly believe this was happening. She prayed every second she was with Antilli for some divine intervention, that the egg might finally move. How cruel that fate could take the happiness of new life and pervert it into slow, lingering death. 

“I have something...which I cannot take to the grave with me,” she said, her words a little slurred from the quantity of pain tonic she had been taking.

“Antilli...”

“About Molli.”

“What about her...?” asked Amali, her heart suddenly pounding.

“Her father...”

“Oh Goddess,” said Amali.

“It’s Harth, you featherhead,” said Antilli, grinning wickedly.

“That was cruel,” said Amali.

“Life is cruel...we get another egg...for this...”

“It could still pass,” Amali said, adjusting Antill’s blanket around her for something to do.

“Saki said it isn’t moving and the infection is spreading.”

“Till...”

“Just...Harth and Molli might need you.”

“I’m afraid there isn’t much of me left to give,” said Amali, “but Kass and I will always do what we can.”

As Amali stroked her friend’s wing she was reminded of another Rito who lay dying.

“I need to tell you something,” Amali said quietly, checking that Harth and Saki were not on their way back, “I kept if from everyone, but you deserve to know.”

“Oh Goddess, your girls aren’t Harth’s too, are they?”

“Never has anyone suggested such an appalling rumour.”

“You’re just so serious,” Antilli smiled, her eyes closed.

“This is quite serious...I saw your sister.”

“Lodli? When?”

“In Gerudo Town, several years ago...she was on her deathbed.”

“How could you not tell me?”

“She didn’t want it revealed...she didn’t even...send her love or anything. She had assimilated to the Gerudo way of life and that made her happy.”

“But she was happy?”

“She said she was so happy,” Amali nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

“I suppose I shall have to have a word with her.”

Amali covered her face. She knew Antilli was trying to be funny but she could not bear the dark humour. When Saki and Harth returned and saw Amali holding back tears, Harth hastened to his wife’s side.

“Antilli, what’s happened?” he asked, his voice taught with worry.

“It’s alright, my love,” said Antilli, placing a shaky hand on her husband’s face, “I was trying to make her laugh but I did the opposite.”

Though she and Harth had never been her close, seeing him in such a state of worry over his wife cut Amali to her core. She stood and left the roost. She needed to get hold of herself, she thought as she tried to suppress the urge to weep.

She calmed herself with deep breaths as she walked back down to her roost. Inside, she could hear someone speaking to Kass.

“...I flew across half the continent just to bring a letter. You know how much stress is involved in this job?”

 _Wonderful_ , thought Amali, _just who she wanted to see in her roost_.

“Ah Mimo,” she said as she entered, “I thought I heard your dulcet tones.”

“Here’s your letter, Kass,” Mimo said, holding the letter out.

Kass reached for the letter but Mimo snapped it back out of his reach.

“I’m not a public service,” he said, holding out his hand, “this came from Kakariko Village: ten rupees.”

“Kakariko Village...” Kass repeated. 

Kass sat down and Amali cast him a worried glance. She paid Mimo two blue rupees and took the letter from him and handed it to Kass

“Perhaps you ought to try meditation to help with your stress,” she told Mimo irately; it felt good to snap at someone.

“Perhaps. Or perhaps I ought to get out of here before our esteemed elder reminds me that I haven’t yet taken a wife,” griped Mimo.

He took off from the back of the roost and drifted back toward the stable.

“For a messenger, he cares very little about the goings on in his own village,” Amali remarked, “what news has he brought?”

She watched as Kass opened the letter and read it, his eyes shining with building tears.

“Lady Impa sends word that...Olin has passed from this world,” said Kass, his voice breaking.

He covered his face and Amali wrapped her wings around him and pressed her beak to his crest.

“Oh my love,” she said, thinking of the sweet old Sheikah, “I’m so sorry.”

“He was...quite old...” was all Kass could manage as Amali smoothed his feathers.

Kass pressed a hand to his chest and stood—a sign Amali had long ago realized was a signal of his distress—and began to collect his things.

“I...I must go. I may not yet have missed the funeral,” he said as he looked inside an old travelling pack.

“Of course you must go,” Amali agreed, though she dreaded the thought of being left alone while her friend succumbed, “pack your things and I’ll collect the children for goodbyes.”

Amali found the children laughing mischievously as they splashed Fyson with water from the salmon pond. The youth lifted his wing to shield his clothes and protested. Even now, seeing Genli slam bodily into Fyson, Amali could not help but be reminded of her brother. 

“You think you can get away with that?” said Fyson. 

He lifted Genli into the air. Her wings flapped and her legs kicked as she screeched gleefully. Amali felt tears of nostalgia prick her eyes—Goddess, she had not cried so much since she was a child. Watching her children play with her brother’s son she realized that the hole that Genik had left would always be there, though the bitterness of grief had eased in recent years.

“Girls,” said Amali, as Fyson set Genli back on the ground, “your father must leave for Kakariko Village. Come and say goodbye.”

“Why must he leave?”

“I don’t want him to go!”

“Can I go with him!?”

Amali hurried them back to the roost, unable to discern the questions beneath their chatter. She hoped they would cease this habit of talking over one another as they grew older.

“Papa!” they cried as they ran into the roost.

“You’re leaving us?”

“Papa, must I still practice the song?”

“Where are you going, Papa? Are you crying?”

“Yes Cree, Papa is crying,” Kass said heavily, crouching down and holding ten little hands that reached out to him.

“Why?”

“I’m afraid I have lost a dear friend and I must go and pay my respects. I may be gone for a while, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. You must listen to your mother...and yes. Genli, you must still practice your song.”

He combed his beak over each of their downy little heads as they clung to him. Amali hoped he would not be away for long; the children had never been without him and would miss him terribly.

“Go, I must speak to your father,” said Amali, shooing them back out onto the boardwalk.

Amali wrapped her wings around Kass and nudged her beak against his. She dreaded being without him.

“What of—?” Kass glanced up to Harth and Antilli’s roost.

Amali smoothed the feathers on his face and neck, wishing badly that she could be selfish—he would stay if she asked—but Olin had rescued and raised him. He had kept Kass safe and taught him to be good and kind despite the terrors of his young life. How could Amali ask such a thing when she had benefited so much from Olin’s love for Kass?

“Antilli is under our care. You must see to your grief.”

Kass looked back up to the roost above theirs, no doubt hesitating.

“Kass,” said Amali, “there is nothing you can do for Antilli. You need to honour your teacher.”

Kass nodded and brushed his beak against Amali’s. She wrapped her wings around herself as she watched him leave the roost and walk up the boardwalk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this seems familiar it is is because it is Amali’s POV of the beginning of ‘Turns our Hearts’. I debated how I would go about dealing with Kass’s departure in a way that would keep it in line with what I had already posted. Also, my Rito don't recognize extended family, but I think that Kass and Amali's kids would absolutely be close to Fyson and torment him.


	30. I Dreamt You Tall and Strong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kass journeys to Kakariko Village and learns he, too, is part of the Goddess’s plan.

Kass had decided to stay in Outskirt Stable for the night. His body ached, though he suspected it might have more to do with the grief that gripped him than his flight. As he sat by the cooking pot, he watched Hylians coming to the stable for the night. In an empty sort of wish, he hoped that he might see someone he knew from his travels.

“You usin’ that?” asked a Hylian, gesturing to the pot.

“I’m finished,” Kass said, trudging into the stable and sinking into his bed.

Every time Kass closed his eyes he suddenly seemed to realize they were open again and staring up at the bed canopy. He had spent the previous night similarly sleepless. He tried to will himself to sleep, breathing deeply and trying not to think of Olin...because even not thinking of him made Kass think of him. In his overtired state, tears began to spring to his eyes as he remembered how Olin comforted him when he couldn’t sleep...why couldn’t he get his mind to break this vicious cycle?

Kass somehow managed some restless sleep before he set out early in the morning. He took off from the hills behind the stable shortly after sunrise and kept close to the Great Plateau, wary of the Guardians which still crept through Hyrule Field. By the end of the day he found himself at Duelling Peaks Stable, too drained to make it to Kakariko Village in the deepening dark.

“Do Lita and Pender still hunt monsters around here?” he asked the stable manager as he paid for his bed.

“Been years since anyone’s heard from them,” shrugged the manager.

Something about the casual dismissal in the stable manager’s tone cut Kass to his core. He hated that the stables where he had travelled and known people—friends—were suddenly so changed. Kass was not so arrogant as to think that he would be remembered at them. 

Though Rito visitors were still rare, stable workers were familiar with Mimo from his post stops. Kass found he experienced significantly less staring than when he was young...perhaps that was a good change.

Kass walked out to the small waterfall basin across the road from the stable. He cupped some water and scrubbed it across his face to try to preempt the tears that seemed to be constantly on the verge of spilling from his eyes. If he did not get some real sleep soon, he would absolutely fall apart.

Mercifully, he managed to fall asleep in the uncomfortable bed at the stable, bu his dreams were troubling. In them, he opened letters he could not read, misplaced his accordion, and flew so far from the ground he could no longer see where he was going. It was as though his mind was just catching up on the last few days and exacerbating his worries.

The next morning, rain came down in sheets from the dark grey sky. Kass flew the path to Kakariko Village, his heart heavy. He landed between the rock faces in the eastern entrance to the village, and decided to walk the rest of the journey so that he might have time to steel himself.

As he entered the village he found it to be nearly exactly the same as he had last left it, but devoid of the usual activity outdoors. In the downpour, the Sheikah had abandoned their gardening for the shelter of their cottages. The only person still outside as the rain drove down was Cado, who stood outside of Impa’s residence. As Kass approached him, Cado reached out and took his wing.

“Kass, I’m so sorry,” he said.

“Thank you,” said Kass numbly.

“Lady Impa has been expecting you.”

Kass nodded and took the stairs up to the residence. He pushed open the door and blinked against the dimly lit interior. As his eyes adjusted to the lamplight, he saw Impa. She had shrunken with age even since he had last seen her. He inclined his head respectfully.

“Kass,” she said, “perhaps not the guest I thought you would be, but I’ve been expecting you nonetheless.”

“Your letter...”

“Yes. We must speak.”

She invited Kass to sit. Her granddaughter placed a stack of books, maps and journals in front of Kass.

“Olin left these to you...you have been named the successor to his knowledge.”

Kass lifted a letter from the top of the pile that bore his name in Olin’s shaky script.

“I doubt that I can bring these things home with me,” said Kass.

“I will have them sent.”

“Olin...did he...” 

Kass’s throat ached as he tried to hold back his unshed tears.

“Olin lived out his final days here, with me. He was not ill nor in pain. He simply fell asleep one night and did not wake,” Impa’s voice was soft and bore a strange lack of grief.

Kass nodded, glad that Olin had passed from this life in peace.

“Please, take all the time you need. If you are staying at the inn I will have these things sent there.”

“Thank you,” said Kass, tucking the letter into his pack, “if I might take my leave.”

“Certainly.”

When Kass returned outside the rain remained steady but had slowed from it’s driving ferocity into large drops which fell straight down. Kass headed for the graveyard and stood beneath the tree. He had had little reason to really visit before and was grateful for its quiet. Beneath the tree Kass opened the letter.

_My Dearest Kass,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. These past years, Impa has suggested that I might find a successor to my knowledge and I can imagine only one such person who is fit to trust with such an important task. I leave to you my years of research and writing so that you might pass on this vital knowledge when it is needed most._

_My mother once told me that she received a divine vision that I was bound to carry a burden to the top of a mountain, but I would fall before I reached the peak and wings of blue would carry me on. I buried that prophetic dream along with so many others that she foretold, only to find that the world was set in an unavoidable path to our destinies._

_When I found you all those years ago, it was not with any sense of destiny that I directed my actions. I heard your cry and did as my heart told me was right, for I, too, have been alone in this world. My life has been one of solitude and duty in the shadow of that calamitous disaster. In you, I found that my capacity for love, mercy, happiness had not been extinguished with the lights of Hyrule, but still resided somewhere inside of myself._

_I never hoped to replace your parents, only to see you safely to adulthood, but to me, you shall always be as a son. I am proud when I see that you have become a man of wisdom, integrity and compassion, and I hope that your generosity of spirit will always serve you well. I pray you go with the Goddess through life’s most difficult journeys, my dear boy._

_May the light illuminate your path._

Kass folded the letter and pressed it to his heart, his grief overtaking him as he leaned back against the tree and wept. When he realized that night was falling, he calmed himself and pushed away from the tree. Wiping at his tears, he turned back to the village. 

A slight tremor in the ground startled him, and Kass pushed off into the air in surprise. Above the village, the shrine on the hill where he had sat so many times was lit with an orange glow. He flapped his wings to get higher above the village and saw the land around them dotted with similar orange lights and—more strangely—towers which rose from the ground and glowed with that same foreboding light. Distressingly, the long-quiet castle in the distance erupted with swirling pink malice.

When he landed in front of the goddess statue, the villagers wanted to know what he had seen. They reacted in shock when he gave his report. He could only imagine what kind fear the Rito must feel. He prayed Amali and his daughters were well away from this frightful display.

“Kass, you must tell Lady Impa what you have seen,” Cado insisted, steering him to the steps.

Kass ascended the stairs with Cado close behind. When he gave his report to Impa she did not react in fear, or even surprise. A small smile graced her wrinkled face.

“Our day has finally come,” she said quietly.

“I’m afraid I must go,” said Kass, “my wife and children—”

“Will have to wait,” said Impa, “you are needed, Kass. As those who grow up among the Sheikah have a responsibility to Hyrule, so, too, have you. Your presence here has been preordained; you must set out upon the journey which Olin has left for you.”

“My Lady, I’m needed in Rito Village—” Kass protested, but was cut off when Impa raised her hand.

“Read the notes that have been left to you; you are needed by all of Hyrule.”

oOo

The next morning was clear and slightly cool. The grass beneath Kass’s talons was slick with the rain from the night before as Kass walked to the cemetery. The sun shone coolly off of the damp stones that marked those who had passed in the village. Kass stood in silence, somehow the raw pain from the night before had been dulled with the weight of having inherited a destiny. Though perhaps it was not inherited, but had been his all along.

“You raised me to see my responsibility to all of Hyrule,” he told Olin, wherever he may be, “this isn’t a responsibility I have sought out, or take on with some notion of heroism or self-importance. It’s hard to even know if what I’m doing—if this is the right thing to do.”

Kass rubbed at his eyes and clenched his beak a little to suppress the urge to cry—clearly, he had not yet exhausted the desire to weep over his teacher.

“I’m so torn...leaving Amali alone with the children. Surely, I am needed in the village as well. I don’t know how to reconcile these responsibilities. Selfishly, I wish this had come at a time when I had only myself to worry about—though perhaps not, because I could never give up what I have found in my family.”

This seemed that this might be the last time that Kass would pass this way for a while, so he thought he had better say everything he wanted to.

“Last night, I dreamt you tall and strong, just as you were when we first met. You lifted me in your arms and promised that you would keep me safe. If you are somewhere beyond...watch over them, please...keep them safe...and if Rito and Sheikah go to the same place...perhaps tell Genik to keep them safe too.”

Kass rubbed at his eyes and turned to set out to Rabia Plain.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I’ve been relishing and dreading this moment.
> 
> I know that the towers can’t actually rise at night, but that was such a neat visual for ‘Turns our Hearts’ I hand waved that. I also realize that somewhere (Jeddo Bridge perhaps?) Kass tells Link that his teacher died years earlier...I guess I missed that when I started writing and then it didn’t seem like an important detail...yes, I abuse the canon a little (a lot? Surely not a lot?).
> 
> Really I just started with this premise: 1) Why is Kass the only tropical Rito? 2) Why is Kass so willing to go on such a difficult journey to honour his teacher? 3) How does Hyrule rebuild after the Calamity? I think I managed to do all those things so I’m happy.
> 
> Anyway, I’ve had so much fun writing and posting. Thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart to angsttronaut and Raging_Nerd for all of your wonderful comments—you can really never know how much it kept me writing to know that people were still reading. Thank you to all the users and guests who clicked the little Kudos button, I appreciate it :)
> 
> Let me know if you made it to the end and take good care of yourselves <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [even now (you are home),](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23506060) by [Raging_Nerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raging_Nerd/pseuds/Raging_Nerd)




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